In a bid to address the growing menace of invasion of data privacy escalated by the growing use of phones, tablets, laptops and other electronic devices; the Lagos State House of Assembly held A- Day Public Hearing to seek Stakeholders opinion on the Lagos State Data Protection Bill. The Bill seeks to ensure that the privacy of citizens are protected, transactions are done in a reliable manner and which in turn, will engender the trust and confidence of all stakeholders about the safety of their personal data when dealing with the public and private sector organizations in Lagos State.
Welcoming Stakeholders to the Hearing, Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Olarenwaju Afinni stated that the circulation of fake news without any means to check its authenticity and unpermitted use of private information, either for fraud or unsolicited messages that constantly breach the right to privacy of the citizens is one of the negative consequences of social media. This Bill intends to promote and protect personal information processed by public and private bodies, establish minimum requirements for the processing and protection of personal information and establish the data protection commission and for connected purposes. Giving the Keynote address, the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Wasi Eshinlokun-Sanni, maintained that the essence of this hearing is to deliberate on how best Lagosians can protect, regulate and manage data in order to prevent harms that could result to unfair and unauthorized exploration; usage and manipulations of data. Hon. Eshilokun-Sanni enjoined stakeholders to contribute meaningfully in order to make a Law that will stand the test of time.
Presenting the Overview of the Bill, The Majority Leader, Hon. S.O.B Agunbiade noted that the robust Bill which has 9 Parts and 64 Clauses sees to the establishment of a Data Protection Commission; Obligations of a Data Controller and Processor; Data Protection Register and Rights of Data Subjects amongst others. The Data privacy and protection landscape will also create new jobs for people who decide to tap into the new opportunity created to become certified data privacy and protection practitioners and professionals. He added that the Government could be encouraged to set up a Data Protection Cadre in the State Civil Service in order to promote data privacy and protection practices in the Public sector. Stakeholders at the Hearing gave their contributions on the Bill.
Contributing, a legal associate at Cybrief Limited, Mrs. Bugbemi Olaitan observed that data controllers are at liberty to sell data without restrictions and the definition of the data subject is not captured in the Bill. Mr. Farouq Hassan, a professional analyst was of the opinion that a special court should be designated for data protection cases rather than court of competent jurisdiction and the current trend in the Criminal Administration Law is implemented whereby rights of data subject and those whose rights are infringed upon should be compensated. Lending his voice, representative from Information Systems Audit and Control Association, ISACA, Mr. Olarenwaju Daramola advised that the tenure of the Executive Secretary which is the institutional memory of the Commission be increased or equivalent to the Chairman’s tenure as against the one year stated in the Bill.
He also suggested that the rights of exemption that was given to the Governor should be in accordance with National Security Exemption Rights and the rights of individuals enshrined in the Constitution be exercised with the advice from the Commission or Attorney-General. Also speaking, Dr. Yahaya Peters, First Bank Plc, was of the opinion that a data privacy team be created in the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Bill should align with all the Data Protection Laws in the Country. A Data Professional Analyst, Miss. Tojuola Yusuf, advised that a Data Protection Expert be included in the composition of the Commission board and the importance of data protection experts be stated in the Bill. In response to the Contributions made by the Stakeholders, Hon. Eshilokun-Sanni assured that their inputs will be added to the Committee’s recommendations so as to be more robust and responsive to the yearnings of the people.
