The national commissioner of the Nigerian Data Protection Commission, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, revealed that the commission had established a joint committee with the Central Bank of Nigeria to review the rule requiring financial institutions to collect customer data, including social media handles.
The Punch reported that he made this announcement on Thursday during a two-day Abuja workshop on data privacy and protection.
The CBN required financial institutions to gather the social media handles, email addresses, phone numbers, residential addresses, and more of their clients earlier in June of this year.
This is an effort to further strengthen the identification process inside the banking system and was included in its new client due diligence standards.
This information was provided by the central bank in its paper titled “Central Bank of Nigeria (Customer Due Diligence) Regulations, 2023.”
According to the CBN, the purpose of the new legislation is to give financial institutions that fall within its regulatory scope extra consumer due diligence processes.
The NDPC, however, had objected to the rule, calling it superfluous.
“We actually went to the CBN and set up a joint committee to explore how to settle this,” Olatunji added. “When there was a problem with CBN asking for CBN handles, we actually went to the CBN. We advised them against doing so, and they concurred.
Additionally, he stated that the commission is actively educating the public about the Nigeria Data Protection Act and developing the skills of both Nigerians and Data Protection Officers.
Olatunji bemoaned the need for more than 500,000 qualified DPOs because there aren’t enough in the country.
During the ceremony, the Minister of Communications, Innovation, and the Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani, reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to the protection of digital platforms in order to increase online user confidence.
According to Tijani, the government is creating a framework for regulating data privacy and protection, which is crucial to the country’s progress towards digitalization.
“Data privacy is not just a convenience; it is a basic human right, and we should be concerned with the data we produce and how it is utilized. It is critical that the private and sensitive data of our citizens is protected as we enter the digital age.”
