Three companies; OPay, Meta and DHL may be asked to pay 2% of their 2022 gross revenues as fines in Nigeria if an ongoing investigation finds them guilty of data privacy violations.
Online banking platform, OPay is being investigated over claims that it opened accounts for people without their consent, an allegation which the company has recently denied.
Meta has been faced with complaints by some customers who alleged that the social media platform was targeting them in behavioral advertising without their consent.
DHL’s possible infractions are still unclear.
National Commissioner of Nigeria’s Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr. Vincent Olatunji, hinted during a press session that the commission, acting on the Section 48 (5) of the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023 which grants it the power to investigate data protection and privacy complaints from the public, asked the companies involved to provide background information on the allegations levied against them.
“After the NDPC completes an investigation and finds that a data controller or processor has violated provisions of the law, the data protection law recommends a range of actions.”
The affected companies may be required to pay compensation to data subjects, also disclosing the profits it made from the violation. In the event of a fine, companies found guilty of violations may be fined a maximum amount of N10 million or 2% of its annual gross revenue in the preceding year, depending on whichever figure is greater.
Meta’s spokesperson had said that that the protection of people’s information and giving them control over their data was paramount to the company’s operations, saying that they offered a range of tools to help people manage their advertising and privacy preferences.