NASS Mulls Review Of Data Protection Act To Curb New Threats

The National Assembly has said it is making efforts to review the National Data Protection Act (2023) to meet emerging threats associated with technological advancement.

The chairman, Senate Committee on ICT and Cyber Security, Sen. Afolabi Salisu (APC, Ogun), said this at the opening of a three-day workshop on data protection awareness promotion in Abuja on Tuesday.

The workshop is organised for the Joint National Assembly Committee on ICT by Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and Ampersand Development Partners.

Salisu said since the enactment of the Act in 2023, there have been new developments such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the United Nations Convention on Cyber Crimes.

He stated that there is a nexus between data governance and cyber crimes, hence the need to look at the Act and strengthen the handshakes where necessary.

Salisu emphasised the need to ensure the security of the country, particularly in the cyber space and data governance as well as technology advancement such as 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 be in position to review the National Data Protection Act

“It has been three years down the line, how has this law addressed the need of the nation, particularly given the emerging technologies and how it compares with other other countries

“At the end of this exercise, we would be able to come up with a roadmap, a timeline, with a view to review the National Data Protection Act,” he said.

Salisu tasked all Nigerians on private data protection saying that it is 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.

For his part, the chairman, House Committee on ICT and Cyber Security, Hon. Stanley Olajide (APC- Oyo) said that data is gold and Nigeria’s next prosperity was not going to be oil but data.

Olajide said no investor would bring foreign funds or capital into Nigeria, without making sure that the right data protection law is in place, which Nigeria has.

“Whatever data that we have is our sovereign wealth, 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, once bridged, you can actually hold entities, corporation, the countries responsible when they’ breach your data law.

“In the U.S., they have their data law; if you put anything in their cloud, is 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 are put in the right laws and framework in place just to do that,” he added.