Cases of data privacy breaches have become prevalent in recent times due to the proliferation of digital lending platforms.
28th March 2024 08:29 AM 
The Nigeria Data Protection Commission said it is investigating over 400 cases of privacy breaches involving online loan apps.
NDPC made this known on Thursday in its 2023 Annual Report made available to reporters on Thursday.
It noted that its ongoing investigations have revealed that “loan apps are overly intrusive.”
The commission stated that; “They generally violate the principles of Data Protection and Privacy because they have access to contacts, pictures, messages, etc. of data subjects.”
This indicated that despite an April 2023 policy introduced by Google banning loan apps from accessing photos and contacts of users, the practice has continued.
NDPC is also seeking a ban or restriction on mobile numbers found to have been used by lenders to breach the privacy of their customers.
This indicated that despite an April 2023 policy introduced by Google banning loan apps from accessing photos and contacts of users, the practice has continued.
Acknowledging that privacy breaches by loan apps are a systemic problem, the commission said it is also adopting a systemic solution by working with other regulators and third-party platforms being used by the lenders.
