The Federal Government has disclosed that the data breaches infractions committed by Meta and the fines imposed would be resolved through dialogue and collaboration.
The National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr Vincent Olatunji, stated this in Abuja during a workshop for data protection officers.
Dr Olatunji said government would rather explore political solutions to address the issues. Meta recently threatened to exit its operations in Nigeria over lingering disputes of data breach and imposition of heavy penalties by Nigeria.
However, while addressing the issue of data breaches at an international conference in Abuja, Dr Olatunji said within three years, over 223 investigations have been carried out by the NDPC on alleged breaches of data privacy by local and international organisations.
He said the NDPC would ensure sanity in the system by engaging and collaborating with concerned institutions to find amicable solutions to the challenges.
“Our new approach is partnership. We are working with them to see if we can resolve the issue. We don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. What we do today is to look at the issues — what do we need to resolve, and are they willing to do what is right? We have to also look at political ways of solving it,” Dr. Olatunji said.
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Recall that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) imposed a fine of $220 million on Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, for series data privacy violations.
The FCCPC explained that the penalty followed a joint investigation with the NDPC into Meta platforms’ conduct, privacy policies, operations and practices between May 2021 and December 2023.
However, WhatsApp said it would appeal the fine and threatened to exit the country.
While on April 25, the Competition and Consumer Protection Tribunal upheld the $220 million fine the FCCPC imposed on Meta, the organisation maintained that the burden was straining its operations in the country. The tech company consequently threatened to shut down the Nigerian operations of Facebook and Instagram.
Dr Olatunji however, said the matter would soon be resolved as plans are underway to find amicable solutions to the problem and urged Nigerians to remain calm.
The NDPC also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Mastercard to consolidate data protection capacity in Nigeria. The MoU was signed in Abuja during the workshop.
Olatunji also said the Federal Government was committed to increasing the number of certified DPOs with the required skills to manage data protection. He said at the moment about 500 DPOs were trained by the NDPC, but 413 passed their examinations for certification while the Commission also licensed 267 Data Protection Compliance Organisations for operations in the country.