by Thinus Ferreira
Nigeria's Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has fined MultiChoice Nigeria N766,242,500 (R8.9 million) for allegedly breaking the struggling West African country's Nigeria Data Protection Act.
Nigeria continues to be a drag on MultiChoice's balance sheet as its most difficult and cumbersome country in Africa to do business in, combined with a constantly worsening economy, rampant inflation, a plunging subscriber base and relentless attacks and court cases trying to shake down the pay-TV operator for money and fines.
In the latest shocker in a string of ongoing Nigerian claims against the company from politicians, official institutions and other industry organisations, the NDPC alleges that MultiChoice Nigeria is guilty of violating DStv Nigeria subscribers' privacy rights and illegally transfered their consumer data across borders and out of Nigeria.
Babatunde Bamigboye, the NDPC head of legal, enforcement and regulations, in a statement says the organisation launched an investigation into MultiChoice Nigeria's consumer data handling and storage in the second quarter of 2024.
"The NDPC found, among other things, that MultiChoice violated the data privacy rights of its subscribers and individuals associated with them who are not necessarily subscribers," Babatunde Bamigboye says.
"The commission also discovered that MultiChoice engaged in the illegal cross-border transfer of personal data belonging to Nigerian data subjects. The depth of data processing by MultiChoice is patently intrusive, unfair, unnecessary, and disproportionate."
"This is a grave affront to the fundamental right to privacy as enshrined in section 37 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria."
The NDPC says it ordered MultiChoice Nigeria to take remedial measures but that it then discovered that MultiChoice Nigeria allegedly failed to fix the problem.
"The commission found the measures undertaken by MultiChoice in this regard unsatisfactory. For want of cooperation, the commission has directed MultiChoice to pay N766,242,500 for violating the Nigeria Data Protection Act."
Dr Vincent Olatunji, NDPC national commissioner, has now ordered an investigation into "all channels through which MultiChoice collects the personal data of Nigerian citizens to ensure compliance".
"Autlet that processes personal data in violation of the NDPA is liable to penalty under the Act," he says in the statement.