Your Rights as a Data Subject in Nigeria

 

The Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA) of 2023 provides a framework for the protection of personal data and grants certain rights to data subjects under Part VI of the Act.

Understanding your rights as a data subject is like having a superpower to protect your privacy and personal information. In this article, Let's dive into what these rights under the NDPA mean for you as a data subject.

Right to Information

As a data subject, you have the right to know how your personal data is
being processed, for what purpose it is being processed, to whom the
personal data will be disclosed, the source of information when it is not
collected directly from the data subject, the existence of automated
decision-making, and where personal data is being stored.

If for example, you are signing up for a new app or service. You have the right to know what data they're collecting from you, why they're collecting it, and who they're sharing it with.

Right to Access

You have the right to access your personal data held by organisations. This
allows you to verify the accuracy of your data and ensure that it is being
processed lawfully. You can request access to your data and obtain copies of the information being processed about you.

Right to Withdraw Consent

You have the right to withdraw consent given for the processing of your
personal information at any time. The best part is, the Data Controller must
make the process of withdrawing your consent very easy.

Right to Rectification

This right requires data subjects to verify that their personal information is
being processed accurately and in an updated form by controllers. Simultaneously, it also mandates controller to ensure that personal data of
data subjects are accurate, complete and up to date, removing it when it
becomes irrelevant or outdated. If you spot a typo in your name or an outdated address in your data, you can request corrections. It's like editing your social media profile to reflect your current status.

Right to Erasure

Under certain circumstances, you have the right to request the erasure of
your personal data. The NDPA provides that at such request, the data
controller must erase personal data without undue delay, where the personal data is no longer necessary, in relation to the purposes for which it was collected or processed OR the data controller has no other lawful basis to retain the personal data. The right to erasure, also known as the right to be forgotten, includes the ability for individuals to request the removal of negative personal information from the internet. Just as you can delete old photos from your phone, you have the right to ask companies to delete your data under certain conditions.

Right to Restriction

You can request the restriction of processing of your personal data in certain situations. This right may apply when you contest the accuracy of your data, or if the processing is unlawful, and you oppose the erasure of the data. You can ask companies to limit how they use your data, especially if you think something's not right. It's like setting privacy settings on your social media accounts to control who can see your posts.

Right to Data Portability

The right of portability includes the right to receive, without undue delay
from a data controller, personal data concerning you in a structured,
commonly used, and machine-readable format, and to transmit such personal data directly from one controller to another, where technically
feasible. This allows the data subject to manage and reuse their personal
data for their own purposes across different services on multiple platforms.

Right to Object to processing

You can object to the processing of your personal data, including processing for direct marketing purposes or based on legitimate interests pursued by the data controller. For instance, if you're tired of receiving spam emails or unwanted marketing calls, you can say no. You have the right to object to certain types of data processing. It's like hitting the unsubscribe button to stop getting those annoying messages. Your objection must be adhered to by the data controller, discontinuing the
processing of personal data, unless such data controller demonstrates a
public interest or other legitimate grounds that override your fundamental
rights and freedoms, as well as your interests.

Rights in Automated Decision Making

The Act gives data subjects the general right to avoid decisions that are
solely based on automated processing of their personal data. Automated
decision-making is the process of making a decision by automated means
without any human involvement. These decisions can be based on factual
data, as well as on digitally created profiles or inferred data. If decisions are made about you solely based on automated processing, including profiling, you have the right to request human intervention, express your point of view, and challenge the decision.

Right to lodge a complaint with the Commission

If you believe that your rights under NDPA have been violated, you have the
right to seek redress through the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) or other relevant authorities. You can lodge complaints and seek solutions for breaches of data protection laws.

Knowing your rights as a data subject empowers you to assert control over your personal data and ensure that organisations handling your information do so responsibly and in compliance with data protection
regulations like NDPA.

Understanding and exercising your rights as a data subject is not just about legal jargon – it's about taking charge of your digital life and ensuring that your privacy is respected in today's data-driven world.

Stay informed, exercise your rights, and advocate for the protection of your data.

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