NDPC, MasterCard to boost data Protection compliance in Financial Sector

The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) and MasterCard are working towards enhancing data protection compliance through capacity-building workshop for the financial sector in Nigeria.

This was one of the outcomes during a webinar organized by MasterCard tagged “Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023: Implications for the Financial Sector”, where National Commissioner/CEO, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr. Vincent Olatunji and Chief Privacy and Data Responsibility Officer of MasterCard, Caroline Louveaux spoke on creating awareness.

Both organizations considered the possibility of organizing a data protection capacity-building workshop for the financial sector in Nigeria.

Dr. Olatunji noted that the realization of the need to have extensive legislation on Data Protection brought about the NDP Act.

Read Also: Nigeria Data Protection Act to address technological Challenges 

He gave a summary of the Act and stressed the need for compliance through appropriate privacy policies, appointment of Data Protection Officers (DPCOs), Awareness and Capacity building for staff, appointment of licensed DPCOs to take organizations through compliance and filing of annual compliance return with the NDPC amongst others.

He explained that if organizations in the financial sector are fully compliant, it gives them a commercial benefit as it boosts the trust and confidence of their clients/customers which has a lot to do with their reputation and high revenue generation.

Caroline Louveaux spoke on the various efforts made by Mastercard in securing customers’ information with particular reference to privacy by design.

She appreciated the National Commissioner and commended the partnership between NDPC and Mastercard.

Louveaux also noted the ongoing initiative in having a common policy framework for data protection in Africa.

In another development, the National Commissioner, Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), Dr Vincent Olatunji had in audience the Executive Secretary, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Prof. Idris Muhammad Bugaje.

Prof. Bugaje congratulated the National Commissioner on the transition to a Commission and as the pioneer National Commissioner.

He requested collaboration between NBTE and NDPC to deepen data privacy in the technical education ecosystem and the need for them to participate in the proposed training of Data Protection Officers in the quest to create 500,000 jobs through data privacy.

The National Commissioner appreciated Prof Bugaje for his enthusiasm and his quest for capacity building for global competitiveness.

He noted that the request is in tandem with the Commission’s initiative of having a National Certification Institute.

The meeting is to be followed up with a formal request, a sensitization workshop and further activities to guide the collaboration.

Also, the National Commissioner, Nigeria Data Protection Commission, Dr Vincent Olatunji said that Digital Trust signifies the confidence citizens, businesses and stakeholders have in the security and reliability of their online activities.

He stated this when he gave a keynote address at the 15th Annual Conference of ISACA (Abuja Chapter) on Digital Trust and Enforcement of the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023.

He highlighted the need for Digital Trust, the Challenges, how to fortify digital trust and the policies that have been put in place by government in Nigeria.

In the area of enforcement, Dr Olatunji explained that the NDP Act 2023 is all about regulating the process of personal data, data security, minimizing data breach impact, and accountability.

He called for compliance and partnership between all sectors and stakeholders in the Data Protection ecosystem.