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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The National Assembly has said plans are on to review the National Data Protection Act ( 2023) in view of emerging threats associated with technological advancement.
Chairman, Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber Security, Sen. Afolabi Salisu (APC-Ogun), made this known at the opening of a three-day workshop on Data Protection Awareness Promotion, organised for the Joint National Assembly Committee on ICT in Abuja yesterday.
The workshop was organised by Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), in conjunction with Ampersand Development Partners.
The lawmaker said since the enactment of the Act in 2023, there had been new developments such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the United Nations Convention on Cyber Crimes.
He said there had been a nexus between data governance and cybercrimes, hence the need to look at the Act and strengthen it, where necessary.
“We need to ensure the security of our country, particularly in cyberspace and our data governance as well as technology advancement like AI.
“As legislators, we need to have knowledge on data privacy and protection, for us to be able to effectively legislate in that area.
“You cannot legislate in an area that you are not sufficiently knowledgeable in.
“This workshop affords us the opportunity to build our capacity to understand modern principles of data protection and to also be in position to review the National Data Protection Act.
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“It has been three years down the line. How has this law addressed the needs of the nation, particularly given the emerging technologies and how it compares with other countries?
“At the end of this exercise, we would be able to come up with a roadmap and a timeline, to review the National Data Protection Act,” he said.
While tasking all Nigerians on private data protection, Salisu said it was the duty of all citizens to ensure safety of their data.
According to him, many free public WiFi and apps are not always free as users pay with their data and adverts without knowing it.
Chairman, House Committee on ICT and Cyber Security, Stanley Olajide (APC- Oyo), described data as gold now, adding that Nigeria’s next prosperity would not be oil but data.
He said that no investor would bring foreign funds or capital into Nigeria without making sure that the right data protection law was in place, which he said Nigeria already had.
“Whatever data that we have is our sovereign wealth; it is something that belongs to us. How do we protect it?
“We have to make sure that the right legal frameworks are put in place so that those data laws, once bridged, you can actually hold entities, corporations or the countries responsible.
“In the U.S., they have their data law. If you put anything in their cloud, it’s owned by the United States. So we also have to have something here. Anything that resides here in Nigeria and is generated here must be home and protected by our country; so we have to put the right laws and framework in place to ensure that,” he said.
