THE Nigeria Data Protection Bureau has launched an investigation into allegations that two Nigerian banks have violated data security.
According to a statement released by the Bureau today, suspicions of unauthorized access to and processing of personal data as well as unauthorized disclosure of banking records to a third party sparked the investigations.
The investigation is being conducted in accordance with the directive of the National Commissioner and CEO of the NDPB, Dr. Vincent Olatunji. It also extends to all third parties engaging in data processing activities.
The Bureau stated with concern that many data privacy and protection regulations and best practices are hardly implemented down the organizational strata of major data controllers in Nigeria.
In a similar vein, the Bureau urged businesses to follow the Federal Government circulars and general compliance notices instructing them to provide the Bureau with the names of their data protection officers and contacts.
According to records from the Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), fraudsters tried 46,126 attacks in the first nine months of 2020, and they were successful 41,979 times, or 91% of the time.
“This level of vulnerability to data breach is unacceptable and it can only be addressed through foolproof data security and data privacy measures by data controllers/data processors in the industry” the NDPB statement signed by its head legal enfircement and regulations Babatunde Bamigboye said.
According to a statement made by the NDPB National Commissioner, all financial institutions should follow the Central Bank of Nigeria’s lead in adhering to the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) 2019 and developing a strong data governance framework.
The statement added that the current National Privacy Week is an opportunity for all organizations to clarify how they handle citizen data.
It further stated that swift action would be taken to punish willful privacy rights violators in the country.
