The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has said there is no going back on its decision to address issues of cyber security and crime; personal data breaches; and crime detection, prevention and investigation in some of its regulatory instruments.
NITDA had in a statement on the 25th January, 2019, said that it would address mounting issues of cybercrime, data breaches and other infractions in it’s regulatory instrument.
In a statement NITDA said its “attention has been drawn to a publication ascribed to the President of the Association of Licensed Telecommunication Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) published in the media regarding certain regulations and guidelines issued by the agency.
“For avoidance of doubt, NITDA has enjoyed a cordial and cooperative relationship with all sector regulators and we have consistently engaged them on all regulations and guidelines issued by the agency. In this vein, NITDA has significantly socialized the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) 2019 and the Public Internet Access Regulation 2019 as referenced in the publication.
The Agency is delighted with the support of several institutions in complying and promoting these regulations.
“For clarity, no single regulator in Nigeria has a converged mandate on ICT in the country. Various agencies have different roles to play in developing and regulating ICT in Nigeria as dictated by their mandates and enabling laws.
“Furthermore, no single entity is regulated by only one regulator in Nigeria, regulators in the country work in a cooperative and complementary capacity, resolving mandate overlaps in a cooperative manner.
“ALTON, as with various industry groups, are expected to comply with various professional, sector, geographical and international regulators when their operations so demand.
“This understanding has been shared between NITDA and other regulators in Nigeria.
It may be recalled that NITDA issued five regulatory instruments on the 25th January, 2019, two of which were referenced in the publication.
We wish to draw the attention of the public to the following: (a) The Framework and Guidelines for Public Internet Access (PIA) 2019 was issued to ensure the safe use of free or subsidized publicly accessible internet service in Nigeria.
NITDA has been inundated by concerned stakeholders to check the regime of publicly accessible internet service considering its national security dimensions.
The Framework and Guidelines aims to create and promote a mutually beneficial and friendly environment for both public internet access providers and users in Nigeria.
The Regulation is directed at Public Internet Access Providers (PIAPs). PIAPs include any business or other entity that provide internet access without charge or offers a partially subsidized internet access to members of the public.
The concerns which NITDA aims to address through this regulatory instrument are: cyber security and cyber crime; personal data breaches; and crime detection, prevention and investigation,” the statement reads.
