An Analysis of Data Protection and Compliance in Nigeria

International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue V, May 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186

An Analysis of Data Protection and Compliance in Nigeria

Diyoke Michael Chika¹, Edeh Stanley Tochukwu^2
1Department of Sociology Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Nigeria
²Department of Computer Science, Caritas University Enugu, Nigeria

Abstract:-Contemporarily data protection and privacy has garnered increasing attention in recent years, majorly because data has become a ubiquitous asset in the global community, mirroring the transformation of our societies to data sharing age. Again, the regular and large-scale breaches of sensitive data around the globe have become a growing concern. In spite of these breaches and attacks, several countries of the world and organizations have not yet completely prioritized personal data protection particularly in the third world countries such as Nigeria. Thus it was on this note that this paper was set up to explore the data protection and compliance in Nigeria. The methodology was based on review of published articles, books and journals in order to draw a conclusion on the contemporary issues in data protection and compliance in Nigeria. The paper argued that the upsurge of data sharing and breaches in Nigeria is still hampered by inappropriate/inadequate data protection and privacy legislation, lack of enforcement drive, limited number of practicing professionals among others. In addition, it was observed that data protection and privacy are practically strange to the Nigerian society as data subjects are generally unaware of their privacy rights over personal data that belongs to them. The resultant effect is high level of data breaches and data privacy abuse in the country. In the light of the above, this paper concludes that it is clear that data has become a ubiquitous asset in the global community – Nigeria inclusive. Thus the paper recommends (amongst others) that there is need to strengthen the current legislation and enforcement procedures on data protection.

Key Words: Data Privacy and Protection, Data Subjects, Compliance and Nigeria

I. INTRODUCTION

Contemporarily, data protection and privacy has garnered an increasing attention in recent years, majorly because data has become a ubiquitous asset in the global community. Internet has brought the whole world together through exchange of information. As a matter of fact, a majority of the world’s organizations has resorted to digital operations of their activities, thus requiring a dramatic flow of personal data.
In addition, and more importantly, the regular and large-scale breaches of sensitive data around the globe have become a growing concern. Several companies, including Uber and Facebook have been victims of cyber-attacks. For instance, in September 2018, there were reports that a cyber-attack exposed Uber’s data, affecting 57 million customers and drivers.

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