NITDA warns on use of Truecaller


…Says users exposed to data invasion
 

 
National Information Technology Agency (NITDA) has revealed that
Truecaller Privacy Policy has failed the compliance and global laws on data protection and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) test.
 
According to NITDA, there has been potential breach of privacy rights of over seven million Nigerians by the Truecaller Service.
 
By supplementing the personal information of Nigerians without specific consent and accuracy, they are susceptible to serious invasion of their privacy. This has encouraged unscrupulous persons to continue using Nigerian identities to perpetuate fraud. NITDA said in a statement signed by its Director-General Kashifu Abdullahi Inuwa.
 
“The attention of the National Information Technology Agency (NITDA) has been drawn to the potential breach of privacy rights of Nigerians by the Truecaller service.
 
“The agency, in accordance with Section 6(f) of the NITDA Act 2007, which empowers it to render advisory services in all information technology matters to the public and private sectors, wish to inform the public that it commences investigation of the potential breach.
 
“Initial findings revealed that the Truecaller Privacy Policy is not in compliance with global laws on data protection and the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) in particular.
 
“The findings also revealed that there are over seven million Nigerians who are active users of the service, hence the need to enlighten the public on some of the areas of non-compliance as well as guide those affected.
 
The NITDA investigation reveals that “contrary to the expectation of many users, the Truecaller service collects far more information than it needs to provide its primary service.
 
The foregoing are samples of the many illegitimate provisions found in the Truecaller Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The implications of these are far-reaching. The provisions of the policy can be exploited to put many Nigerians in unsavoury conditions.
 

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