On Africa’s data privacy regulations
also ft; Network downtime in Nigeria’s ongoing #EndBadGovernance protests
CybAfriqué is a space for news and analysis on cyber, data, and information security on the African continent.
Hello readers,
Today’s edition is particularly adventurous as we uncovered the trending patterns of protests in Africa, where social media or access to it becomes tough. We also underscored Africa’s major data privacy problems; from regulatory issues to how multinational companies (MNCs) are neo-colonising Africa.
— Adebola.
HIGHLIGHTS
Network downtime in Nigeria’s ongoing #EndBadGovernance protests
In a similar rage to Kenyans #RejectFinanceBill2024, Nigerians have taken to the streets across different states of the country. The protesters clamour for better governance to end poverty and the plunging currency situation. Social media protests are also ongoing as netizens share posts with the hashtag #EndBadGovernance and #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria, while field demonstrators have suffered more brutality, including tear gas inhalation.
In a twist of events, citizens have complained of strange, severe network downtime, which was unprecedented until the protests started involving the Nigerian Army's retaliation against peaceful protesters. Reacting, the Nigerian Minister of Communications, Innovation, and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, ‘denied’ the network disruption, saying the experience was a result of the traffic. “There’s no instruction to tamper with the network, absolutely no instruction from my office. You also need to understand when you have a significant amount of people not at work, people are online. So you expect the traffic will be extremely high. And I’m not saying that’s the cause,” he remarked.
Following this, 36 Civil Society Organisations (CSO) have petitioned the Nigerian Government in an OPEN letter addressed to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON). They noted adequate internet speed as a fundamental human right.
“The weaponisation of Internet disruptions and blocking or shutdowns during political unrest only exacerbates the underlying concerns of citizens. These shutdowns go against Chapter Four of Nigeria’s Constitution that assures its citizens of their rights to freedom of conscience, expression, assembly and association,” the groups asserted.
While the government has refuted their involvement in this, citizens lack confidence in them. Previous reports and incidents have signalled that the Nigerian government is as crooked as a dog’s hind leg. During the 2020 #EndSARS protest, the Nigerian government were in the spotlight for their misdeeds and atrocities and this led to several countries and diaspora to spur the disbandment of the police unit, SARS. Participatory to this was the use of social media which also witnessed network disruption and subsequent Twitter (now called X) shutdown.
On Africa’s data privacy regulations
Despite a decreasing record of data breaches in Africa, the continent still has a problem with the formulation of laws to protect data. Out of 54 African countries, only 35 have implemented their data protection laws of which the recent one to do so was Nigeria with its Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023.
Generally, formulating policies is not the easiest task for legislators in Africa. Different problems have ranged from their ambiguity to lack of effectiveness. In several cases, these policies remain as drafts for the longest period before they become law and even start getting implemented. The most to have been achieved with these laws are the fines imposed on companies, which attract awareness about the need for compliance, which does not necessarily prevent breaches or mean protection from cyber threats.
Admittedly, the GDPR is a standard for other countries in formulating their data privacy and protection laws and regulations, but several African countries still contend with foreign businesses, especially the big tech, flouting indigenous policies. For instance, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the standard for big tech, but, trying to adopt data privacy and regulatory laws in other countries becomes hard for them, ultimately leading to non-compliance.
FEATURES
The Global South has data centres and this has sometimes meant embarking on research or indigenous data centres are not prioritised. But, this also means the bulk of the information is obtainable on foreign systems.
WhatsApp has committed several injustices in Nigeria in various ways only to collect and sabotage citizens’ data. Now, the Meta company might successfully sway public opinion with its threat to exit Nigeria, yet, not many people may understand that the government is on their side on this one. It is not another move to stifle foreign companies in the country.
HEADLINES
$220m fine: WhatsApp’s ‘exit’ threat attempt at influencing public opinion, says FCCPC - The Cable
Alleged N1.2b fraud: Undergraduate, proprietor nabbed - The Eagle Online
Hope PSBank mitigates cyber-attack, secures platform & customer funds - Nairametrics
FBI, EFCC nab two Lagosians for stealing $1 million from Jamaican government - Peoples Gazette
MTN faces backlash over SIM blockage in Oyo - Punch Newspapers
SA's sluggish approach to cyber security regulation laid bare - ITWeb
Nigerian Police Arraign Two Students For Hacking MTN System, Stealing N1.9 billion Airtime, Data - Sahara Reporters
No, the CBN isn’t after the money in your dormant account - TechCabal
Mass disconnection of MTN SIM cards linked to incomplete or mismatched NIN registration - TechCabal
Cape Town Sees Boost in Data Centre Capacity as Africa Data Centres Expand - Tech in Africa
ACROSS THE WORLD
OPPORTUNITIES
ECOWAS in hosting a Cybersecurity Hackathon in Nigeria | Applications open from July 19, 2024, to August 5, 2024.
 | A guest post by
|