NITDA, FCCPA to prosecute money lenders for data abuse

The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said it will soon partner the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) to prosecute money lenders who abuse their debtors’ data. 

The partnership would entail joint investigations, enforcement and prosecution of offenders, NITDA’s spokeswoman, Hadiza Umar, noted in a statement Friday.  

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Section 17(a) of the FCCPA, 2019 empowers the commission to administer and enforce provisions of every Nigerian law with respect to competition and protection of consumers.  

Daily Trust reports that some micro-money lenders recently formed a penchant for abuse of personal data of Nigerians and breaching their privacy.  

They hack into their debtors’ phone contacts and send messages to the contacts, telling them that the debtors had defaulted in the payment of their loans. 

The NITDA stated that it had received over 40 petitions from members of the public on the personal data abuse of some lending companies.