Seven banks and other institutions have paid a hefty fine of over N200 million for violations of the data privacy of Nigerians, NewsSpecng learnt.
The Federal Government raked in the money for one year infractions, the National Commissioner, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr Vincent Olatunji, said.
President Bola Tinubu recently signed into law the Commission’s Act .
The National Commissioner, who did not reveal the identities of the banks and other institutions, explained that over 100 private sector institutions were investigated for varying degrees of personal data privacy breaches within the past one year.
He cited instances where citizens’ personal data were wrongly captured by banks, and the concerned persons could not access funds in their bank accounts due to infractions, while some customers had money wiped off their bank accounts due to personal data breaches.
Olatunji, who said a private university and some insurance companies, were being investigated for data breaches, warned that with the new law, data Processors and Controllers must have Data Protection Officers (DPOs) in their organisations.
He explained that compliance with the principal legislation as accented to by President Tinubu would not only boost the nation’s digital economy, but mainstream the country into global recognition and strengthen its standing in the global digital economy landscape.
