A Three Tier Look Into Data Protection in Nigeria

Privacy is Global

Produced by Paradigm Initiative for the series Privacy is Global. Promoting privacy policies and culture has always been a struggle for Nigerian activists, as historical traditions emphasize communal culture and values over Western-style notions of individual privacy. Calls for better protections of personal privacy are often met with responses like “but what do I have to hide?”. However, with the advancement of digital technologies and more personal data being collected, processed and abused, the need for comprehensive data protection has become urgent.

Currently in Nigeria, conversations about data protection take place with representatives from certain industries and specialized lawyers- but the subject matter can be highly technical and legal. Digital rights groups like Paradigm Initiative champion rights-respecting data protection policies and seek to strategize and coordinate with other stakeholders- but there is significant need to mainstream data protection advocacy and engage in more outreach and coordination with a variety of impacted sectors and constituencies.

In this episode of Privacy is Global, Khadijah El-Usman speaks to individuals on how to mobilize and build support for data protection policies amongst different stakeholder groups and to discuss the advocacy challenges and opportunities that exist for such a highly technical issue in Nigeria. We will discuss these issues from the lens of three prototype ‘individuals’ who need to be more engaged: ‘The citizen’, who has a vague understanding of privacy rights and what happens with their data and why they should care; The lawyer, who understands the laws and legal precedent, but needs to broaden the debate; and the advocate, who struggles to bridge the gap between many communities and stakeholders to build a holistic rights-respecting data protection regime in Nigeria. Want to know more? Listen now!