It would seem however that in Nigeria there are no data protection laws. There is even no requirement that data must be properly stored. If data gets lost during a fire incident, just too bad. It ends there. Records may be lost forever in that process. Where some even have backups, the backups are stored in the same locations as the main data. The backups are frequently not updated. But there is great gain in having data that are well protected. "The advantages of having strong data protection regulations cuts across virtually all industries and cannot be underestimated," was how Fola Odufuwa, CEO of eShekels, a Lagos consultancy firm puts it. According to him, in the corporate world, and for some companies, their entire brand equity is tied to data assets. Examples of companies include those in media, oil exploration, marketing, and financial services. "Additionally, the bulk of the activity of an increasing number of Nigerian corporations is now electronic. So you can imagine what happens when a company loses part or all of its data assets through the handiwork of hackers or even rogue staff. Personal and corporate revenues that could be earned when data is securely protected and distributed is often totally lost," said Odufuwa.
On a personla level, Femi Adeagbo, CEO, SaveMyContacts.com said it gives rest of mind. "I must be able to rest, fully assured that if my bank discloses my balance to someone else without my authorisation,i have recourse to the legal system to restrain them from continued infringemnt of my rights and also to seek compensation for the consequences of the breach and a punitive element as well. Data protection laws will provide ICT outsourcers with the comfort level to consider Nigeria for backend data processing tasks currently farmed out to other countries with clearly defined laws.
With these and many more advantages THISDAY asked the two experts what the regulatory requirement for data protection are in Nigeria, Odufuwa said there is none whatsoever. According to him the regulatory framework for data protection is highly undeveloped. "The nearest the country has is copyright protection, which is a little below data protection and digital rights management." Many believe odufuwa was being generous. The copyright law is far below data protection law. In his own assessment, Adeagbo said data protection laws in Nigeria is largely unarticulated in any cogent document that can properly be called a data protected act of parliament.
So what happens in a country like Nigeria where such a law is just not there, what are the dangers to which people are exposed?
Odufuwa said the dangers are indeed grave. "The dangers are many and grave. Intellectual Property (and all the issues surrounding it e.g. copyright control, digital rights management, etc) is one of the four pillars of the new economy." He explained that one of the reasons why the music and publishing industries is hugely underdeveloped in Nigeria is due to the ineffectiveness of copyright control and enforcement. He noted that virtually any document, latest film, or music album, can be purchased for about a dollar from roadside hawkers. "You can imagine depth of lost revenue to property owners!" he exclaimed.
For Adeagbo there would be "abuse of individuals rights of confidentaility, prevalence of fraudulent practices,inability to convince outsourcers of viability of environment, weak judicial framework to determine consequential losses founded on breach of confidentiality, and insecure frame of mind of the individual when dealing with institutions.
On why there shouldn't be a law making it mandatory for private and public companies, corporations and agencies to store and protect data in a number of specified locations, Adeagbo believes such a law is absolutely necessary for the development of the economy. To him, data and its responsible management and manipulation form the bedrock upon which many organisations are built.
Odufuwa however said it is difficult to regulate technology. He pointed out that no one can decree the adoption of technology, but there must be an enabling anvironment for suppliers to connect to users. "Usually, technology often goes far ahead of regulation, and it is only when technology shows up that there is anything to regulate in the first place. Storage of vital company information and data assets cannot be legislated into reality. The storage companies have a serious role to play in assisting corporations to secure their data assets," he said.
Protected data are a prerequisite for running a cashless society, the kind being envisaged when the e-Government initiative of NeGSt takes off May 29. In a system where payments are made online, there must be protection for data. Someone has to take responsibility for stolen data that gives strangers access to your bank account balance, credit card number, your house address and street number, your family details and your date of birth.
There are reasonably good companies that offer data storage facilities in Nigeria. Like the 21st Century Technologies Data Centre which provides first class Hosting Services, Co-location, Customer Care Centre, Network Operations Centre, Outsource Techno-logy Services, Disaster Recovery Services and Online Real Time Backup Services.
To achieve this, the Company has a 100 percent Device redundancy, Power redundancy, Cooling redundancy, Network redundancy, Command center Physical and logical security, Fire detection and suppression systems, and Mirror sites to accommodate Disaster Recovery. It is a centre already winning contracts from security conscious organisations outside the shores of Nigeria. A data centre like this makes acts of vandalism foolish. There is no point destroying information that you know are well secured elsewhere.
Both Odufuwa and Adeagbo had said something needed to be done about the non-existence of a data protection law in Nigeria. Yet such a law is necessary to safeguard the rights of Nigerians with regard to their personal information which may be held, stored or processed about them; and at least also to to ensure that organisations and individuals holding and processing such personal information does so accurately, up to date and ensure that they are only used for the purposes for which they are gathered. Most people wont care until they see a legislation in place. People advocating for a cashless society should have known that.
Autor: Tayo Ajakaye
Quelle: AllAfrica, 28.04.2005
