The National Commissioner of Nigeria Data Protection Bureau, Dr. Vincent Olatunji has deflated the demand by the Central Bank of Nigeria for banks to request their customers’ social media handles as needless.
While granting an interview session on Channels Television on Monday, Olatunji commented on the supposed demand by the apex bank.
Recall that the CBN mandated banks to obtain customers’ social media handles in its latest Due Diligence Regulations 2023 report.
Olatunji noted that the newly signed Data Protection Act by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is to protect the privacy rights of all Nigerians.
“We have written a letter to the Central Bank of Nigeria concerning the new regulation mandating banks to collect customers’ social media handles for identification.
“Collecting citizens’ social media handles is not necessary.
“If that will happen under public interest, yes, there are some guidelines they must follow.
“We will find out why the regulations came up; we’ll let them know the implications of the law. According to global best practices, you don’t collect more data than you need; we are going to take CBN up on this”, he stated.
On June 14, Tinubu signed the Data Protection Act to provide a legal framework for protecting individuals’ personal information.
