Data Protection: CBN’s Move to obtain customers’ social media handle unnecessary – NDPB

The National Commissioner of Nigeria Data Protection Bureau(NDPB), Dr Vincent Olatunji has said it is unnecessary for the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to request the social media handles of bank customers’ data.

Olatunji disclosed this on Monday during an interview on Channels Television .

Recall that the CBN, had earlier mandated banks to obtain customers’ social media handles in its latest Due Diligence Regulations 2023 report.

Olatunji noted that the newly signed Data Protection Act by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is meant to protect the privacy rights of all Nigerians.

“The whole idea of data protection law is to protect all the rights, freedom and interest of Nigerians who are data subjects.

“We have written a letter to the Central Bank of Nigeria concerning the new regulation mandating banks to collect customers’ social media handles for identification.

“Collecting citizens’ social media handles is not necessary.

“If that will happen under public interest, yes, there are some guidelines they must follow.

“There should be a way of informing banks’ customers on the reason for data collection.

“We will find out why the regulations came up; we will let them know the implications of the law. According to global best practices, you don’t collect more data than you need; we are going to take CBN up on this”, He stated.

On June 14, Tinubu signed the Data Protection Act to provide a legal framework for protecting individuals’ personal information.

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