Connect with us

E-Business

Right To Privacy? Nigeria Needs A Data Protection Law

Published

on

Kindly share this post

By ‘Gbenga Sesan

“The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence, telephone conversations and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and protected.” – Section 37 of the Nigerian constitution.

Nigeria’s constitutional promise of data protection is far from being fulfilled. This is especially true for transactions involving the transfer of personal data from individuals to governments and businesses. Despite the increasingly important role that data plays as the currency of the country’s emerging digital economy, Nigeria does not have a Data Privacy or Data Protection law.

Even though Nigeria lacks a robust data management infrastructure, several government agencies and sector regulators collect citizens’ private data with little respect for their rights.

Not only is the same data collected by different agencies, citizens have little control over what is collected, how it is used and have no clear course of action should their data be abused.

The Nigerian Communications Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission, Nigerian Immigration Service, Central Bank of Nigeria, National Identity Management Commission, Federal Road Safety Corps, and other bodies routinely collect or oversee the collection of biometric and other data in their respective silos.

Unfortunately, the conversation around the need to harmonize such sensitive data remains just that — a conversation. Various legislative proposals that could protect people’s data are making little progress, exposing citizens to the real risk of data disasters.

Sensitive data including email addresses and phone numbers are frequently advertised for sale online. In one recent case, information of registered voters appeared online following a data breach. In an equally worrying example, sensitive health data processed by a bank on behalf of a hospital was made available online.

In another case, laptops were sold still holding subscriber information that was captured during the SIM card registration process. In all of these breaches, the lack of a clear data protection law meant that those responsible for handling the data were not held accountable.

However, there is hope for better data control and protection in Nigeria. Various government agencies recently resumed discussions on duplicate data collection, control and use. In addition, a Data Protection Bill passed by the House of Representatives is now being considered by the Senate.

The Digital Rights and Freedom Bill, that has made good progress in the House of Representatives, also has a section on data and information privacy. Clearly, the problem we face is not lack of proposals but lack of follow-through.

The National Identity Management Commission, responsible for the management of citizen data, must work with other agencies and stakeholders to secure the appropriate legislative environment that Nigeria needs for personal data protection and privacy. Citizens, who are new to the concept of data ownership, need to be made aware of their rights — including the proposals that could soon become the law of the land.

Until a robust, enforceable law is in place, Nigerian citizens will continue to be denied the protections that their constitution grants them.

‘Gbenga Sesan is the Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative


Kindly share this post

Ugo Onwuaso is an ICT enthusiast. He believes technology should be used for general good. He holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Lagos state University. Dear Reader, Your support matters. But we believe that technology makes life more exciting and helps improve the lives of people around Nigeria and indeed the world. That is why, we have devoted our energy to independent reportage of technology and finance and how they affect lives. Our incisive and analytical view of how technology news affects the daily life help individuals and organizations make up their minds. Quality journalism costs money. Today, we're asking that you support us to do more. Kindly support our effort to deliver technology and finance journalism to everyone in the world. Donate as little as N1,000. Bank transfers can be made to: UBA Plc 1017156876 Communication Week Media Ltd

E-Business

Transcorp Hotels Delivers Stellar H1 Results, Declares Over ₦1Bn Dividend

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Transcorp Hotels Plc has delivered a stellar performance in the first half of 2025, recording a 60% year-on-year surge in revenue to ₦47.57 billion, up from ₦29.72 billion in H1 2024. Gross profit climbed 71% to ₦36.21 billion, maintaining a strong 76% margin despite inflation and operational headwinds.

The hospitality giant, a subsidiary of Transnational Corporation Plc, also announced an interim dividend payout of ₦1.024 billion — offering ₦0.10 per 50 kobo ordinary share to shareholders.

In a bold move, the company unveiled Nigeria’s largest corporate venue — the 5,000-seat Transcorp Centre — staking its claim as the new leader in event hospitality. Chairman Emmanuel Nnorom described the results as proof of Transcorp Hotels’ transformative strategies and unwavering investor commitment. MD/CEO Uzo Oshogwe attributed the success to relentless execution and a resilient business model.

Transcorp Hotels, renowned for iconic assets like Transcorp Hilton Abuja and its digital platform Aura, says it isn’t just leading Nigeria’s hospitality sector — it’s redefining excellence across Africa.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

Published

on

Kindly share this post

Chinese “threat actors” have hacked Microsoft’s SharePoint document software servers and targeted the data of the businesses using it, the firm has said.

Microsoft Servers Hacked by Chinese Groups

 

China state-backed Linen Typhoon and Violet Typhoon as well as China-based Storm-2603 were said to have “exploited vulnerabilities” in on-premises SharePoint servers, the kind used by firms, but not in its cloud-based service.

The US tech giant has released security updates in response and has advised all on-premises SharePoint server customers to install them.

“Investigations into other actors also using these exploits are still ongoing,” Microsoft said in a statement.

The firm said it had “high confidence” the hackers would continue to target systems which have not installed its security updates.

It added that it would update its website blog with more information as its investigation continues.

Microsoft said it had observed attacks in which hackers had sent a request to a SharePoint server “enabling the theft of the key material by threat actors”.

Charles Carmakal, chief technology officer at Mandiant Consulting firm, a division of Google Cloud, told reporter, it was “aware of several victims in several different sectors across a number of global geographies”.

Carmakal said it appeared that governments and businesses that use SharePoint on their sites were the primary target.

A number of adversaries who stole material encoded by cryptography were then able to regain ongoing access to the victims’ SharePoint data, he said.

“This was exploited in a very broad way, very opportunistically before a patch was made available. That’s why this is significant,” Carmakal said.

Carmakal said the “China-nexus actor” was deploying techniques similar to previous campaigns associated with Beijing.

Microsoft said Linen Typhoon had “focused on stealing intellectual property, primarily targeting organizations related to government, defence, strategic planning, and human rights” for 13 years.

It added that Violet Typhoon had been “dedicated to espionage”, primarily targeting former government and military staff, non-governmental organizations, think tanks, higher education, the media, the financial sector and the health sector in the US, Europe, and East Asia.

Meanwhile, Storm-2603 was “assessed with medium confidence to be a China-based threat actor”.

 

 

 


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

E-Business

NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

Published

on

Kindly share this post

National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has issued a public warning that it is not associated with NINcard.com.

NIMC Warns Nigerians of Fake NIN Website

According to the commission, the website has been circulating online to offer services for Nigerians seeking National Identification Number (NIN) services.

NIMC, in a post on its official X account on Wednesday, said, “NINcard.com is not in anyway affiliated to NIMC. Stay vigilant!”

The warning was accompanied by screenshots of fake payment receipts and OTP request pages from the website, both of which were boldly stamped “FAKE” by NIMC to alert the public.


Kindly share this post
Continue Reading

Trending