Following the alleged data leak by ArikAir, an international
social enterprise, Paradigm Initiative, has demanded from the Federal
Government (FG) and the National Assembly (NASS) to enact a data protection law
for the citizens, reports ITREALMS.
Reacting to the recent data breach which exposed some Arik Air passengers’
data stored on Amazon S3 Bucket, Paradigm Initiative described it as vulnerable
and unprotected in a press statement made available to ITREALMS.
Also, ITREALMS recalls that on 30th October, Justin Paine, an
internet security expert and head of trust and safety at Cloudflare, had
alleged discovery as a serious data
breach that had rendered some Arik Air passengers’ data stored on Amazon S3
Bucket exposed vulnerable and defenseless.
This data included information such as their names, email
addresses, phone numbers, travel schedule, and even card details.
Paradigm Initiative, ITREALMS gathered, is compelled by this event to, once
again, call upon the Nigerian government, particularly the legislature, to
enact a data protection law for its citizens and residents in line with
international best practices.
Section 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
expressly states that “The privacy of citizens, their homes, correspondence,
telephone conversations and telegraphic communications is hereby guaranteed and
protected.” Data protection is, therefore, an inherent responsibility where
privacy has been granted.
Proper care must be taken to protect every information submitted
to data custodians and processors, but much more than that, the Nigerian
government must clearly and expressly mandate every data holder or processor to
secure data in their care. This must be done by the enactment of a law in which
all necessary legal and technical standards are laid out.
As it stands, Nigerians are extremely vulnerable and exposed by
the absence of the country’s firm stance against the poor protection of data.
And as data breaches occur in the country, there is no legally stipulated
process, redress or resort for the aggrieved, no laws detailing data protection
responsibilities on the data holders, no real laws to guide the judiciary.
Although there are some data protection Bills at the National
Assembly namely; Data Protection Bill (HB02), Protection of Personal
Information Bill (SB 310), and the Digital Rights and Freedom Bill (HB 490)
which is closest to becoming a law. The Bill which has been passed by both
houses of the National Assembly, contains provisions for data protection. These
provisions align with internationally recognized principles of data protection
and are clear and unambiguous.
The Digital Rights and Freedom Bill (HB 490) has however not been
transmitted to the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
for his assent. It has been over 7 months since the National Assembly passed
the Bill. We call on the national assembly to immediately transmit this Bill to
President Muhammadu Buhari.
Paradigm Initiative also calls on the federal government to ensure
that the alleged data leak is not swept away but rather thoroughly
investigated. Nigeria cannot afford to continue to miss important learning
opportunities and wakeup calls such as this one. Appropriate actions have to be
taken, and they must be taken now.
Nenye Dom/GEE
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