MultiChoice Slammed with ₦766m Fine for Violating Nigerians’ Data Privacy Rights

The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has imposed a ₦766,242,500 fine on MultiChoice Nigeria for violating the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA).

This was disclosed on Sunday in Abuja by the commission’s Head of Legal, Enforcement and Regulations, Babatunde Bamigboye, following an investigation initiated in the second quarter of 2024.

According to Mr Bamigboye, the investigation uncovered unauthorised data sharing, privacy violations, and illegal cross-border transfers of Nigerians’ personal information.

“NDPC found, among other things, that MultiChoice violated the data privacy rights of its subscribers and individuals associated with them who are not necessarily subscribers.

“The commission also discovered that MultiChoice engaged in the illegal cross-border transfer of personal data belonging to Nigerian data subjects.

“The depth of data processing by Multichoice is patently intrusive, unfair, unnecessary and disproportionate.

“This is a grave affront to fundamental right to privacy as enshrined in section 37 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” Mr Bamigboye said.

He emphasized that the right to privacy is a constitutional guarantee, and that Nigeria has the obligation to protect its citizens under international and local laws to uphold the rule of law, national security, and economic stability.

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Mr Bamigboye added that MultiChoice was instructed to implement corrective actions as part of the commission’s standard remediation process. However, the company’s response was deemed unsatisfactory.

“However, the commission found the measures undertaken by multichoice in this regard unsatisfactory.

“For want of cooperation, the commission has directed multichoice to pay N766,242,500 for violating the Nigeria Data Protection Act,” he added.

The NDPC’s National Commissioner, Vincent Olatunji, also ordered a full compliance audit of all channels used by MultiChoice to collect Nigerian citizens’ data.

He warned that any platform found to be processing data unlawfully will be penalized in accordance with the NDPA.

NDPC reaffirmed its commitment to enforcing data protection standards and highlighted its authority to process personal data legally, relying on principles such as consent, legal obligation, and contractual necessity.