The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has disclosed that it is investigating 17 major cases of data breaches which reportedly occurred across different sectors such as finance, government etc. This disclosure was made by Dr Vincent Olatunji, the National Commissioner/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NDPC during the Global Data Privacy Day, where he stated that the Commission had received over 1000 complaints of data breach, resulting in investigations.
He said, “In the area of complaints and investigations, we have received over 1000 complaints and after thorough review, 50 have been verified and investigations are currently ongoing on 17 major cases covering several sectors such as finance, technology, education, consulting, government, logistics and gaming/lottery, among others.
“Through remedial actions for completed cases, we have generated over 400 million Naira revenue for government.”
According to him, the government would sanction individuals and organizations found culpable in the data breaches, with the view of ensuring the integrity of the country’s data industry.
Olatunji further said, “With over 220 million data subjects, Nigeria has made significant progress in data exploration. However, unlike the crude oil mined onshore and offshore, data; its volume, value, veracity, velocity and variety are derived through our individual activities as well as inactivity.
“This obviously poses a grave risk of abusive exploitation, assault to privacy and dignity of human person and ultimately, it may put the entire nation in peril, if we fail to regulate this value chain.
“Considering the impact on over 8 billion people across the globe and the digital economy, which is estimated at about 15 per cent of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the world cannot afford to let the data value chain grind down to an avoidable disaster.”
Recall that in June 2023, the Commission disclosed that Zenith Bank, Fidelity Bank, Leadway Insurance, Babcock University and others were under investigation for alleged data breaches. Furthermore by October 2023, the Commission stated it was investigating Opay, DHL and others for alleged data breach.
