A recent survey conducted by WorldWideWorx and commissioned by a technology company, Zoho, has revealed that 70 percent of businesses in Nigeria are unaware of privacy laws governing their marketing activities.
The survey revealed that only 30 percent of them are aware of privacy laws governing their marketing activities, despite Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) being in effect since 2019.
It further revealed that businesses rely largely on third-party trackers and advert platforms. E
Of the 319 businesses surveyed, 45% said they allow third-party trackers on their website; mostly for sharing content on social media.
The respondents believe that keyword search ads (59%) and social media ads (52%) are quite effective for customer conversion.
Also, 78% of businesses said the third-party ad platforms either help them meet or are a primary factor in achieving their sales goals.
According to the CEO of WorldWideWorx, Arthur Goldstuck, the lack of awareness of the law is largely due to the fact that the regulations are not part of business-critical activities like taxation and licensing.
Regional Manager for Africa, Zoho, Andrew Bourne, said when businesses choose to use a free tracker, they are paying for it with their consumer’s data.
“At Zoho, we refer to this practice of third-party trackers collecting data without user knowledge as adjunct surveillance.
“Nigerian businesses believe that NDPR has had either no effect or a positive effect. Their biggest concerns with the law are increased complexity and the increased cost of governance,” he explained.
