Nigeria joins global community to mark Data Privacy Day January 28, 2022

As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to celebrate world data privacy day with the theme, Data privacy, protection, effective tools for good governance, Nigerians have been urged to take steps to secure their personal information online.

A survey shows that many Nigerians are ignorant or complacent in the attention they give to the safety of their data whereas it is very important to ensure one privacy is secured.

There are approximately 108.75 million internet users in Nigeria and the figure is projected to grow to 143.26 million by 2026. According to Statista, a leading provider of market and consumer data, internet penetration stood at 51.44% of the country’s population in 2021, and will likely reach 59.92 percent by the year 2026.

2022 marks the third year Nigeria is joining the international community to celebrate World Data Privacy Day, an event that occurs every January 28th. The Day is used to raise awareness, promote privacy and data protection best practices. It is observed in the United States of America, Canada, and over 40 European countries since 2007.

The commemoration offers opportunities for collaboration among governments, industries, academia, nonprofit organizations, privacy professionals, educators, etc. The Day encourages compliance with data privacy laws and regulations, dialogue between stakeholders, and provides a platform for global networking and local action.

The initiative was initially raised to protect government information and private sector transactions, expanded over the years to include families, consumers, and all online activities after the revolution brought by digital devices. A vast majority of the people are unfamiliar with the risks involved in data processing and hardly aware of what they can do if their rights are breached.

The appointment of Prof Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami (Minister of Communications and Digital Economy) as the Director-General, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), marked a turning point in the nation’s history of data privacy. Under his leadership, NITDA issued the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) 2019 applicable to public and private organizationsas to process personal data of Nigerians home and abroad.

The Regulation protects the right to privacy, ensures the right environment for digital transactions, creates jobs, and improves information management practices. Working in concert with the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, NITDA has sustained the momentum of data privacy protection. For instance, from approximately 600 organizations that filed privacy audit reports in 2020, the figure grew to at least 1230 in 2021.

NITDA DG, Kashifu Inuwa said: “In less than 2 years of active implementation of NDPR in Nigeria, we were admitted to the Common Thread Network (a Network of Data Protection Authorities of Commonwealth countries). We also got admitted as a full member of the Network of African Data Protection Authorities (NADPA). Our contribution to the Africa Union’s Policy and Regulatory Initiative for Digital Africa (PRIDA) Data Protection Laws’ Harmonization Work Group led to Nigeria being considered for inclusion in the list of countries where a developed framework for data laws harmonization was tested.”

The impact of NDPR on job and wealth creation is also remarkable. More than 7,680 jobs were created, and 5,746 Nigerians trained on NDPR in 2021. The sector is currently valued at over N4billion, using the median value of audit implementation cost, according to Inuwa.

By 2023, 65 percent of the world’s population will have its personal data covered under modern privacy regulations, up from 10 percent in 2021, according to technology and consulting company. In light of this, 2022 will see regions such as the Asia Pacific region, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States introducing new data privacy and protection laws.