Fidelity Bank PLC has been slammed with a fine of N555,800,000 for violation of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation, 2019.
The Bank was also given 14 days notice to payment of the fine or risk legal action by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC).
A statement from the NDPC, revealed that investigation into the data processing activities of Fidelity Bank PLC was triggered by a complaint from a data subject whose personal data was collected without lawful basis for the purposes of opening an account for the data subject.
This complaint was lodged with the Commission in April 2023.
According to the Commission, upon review of the data processing platforms of Fidelity Bank, it was found that in certain critical cases, the Bank processes personal data without informed consent of data subjects.
It added that .data processing tools such as cookies and banking apps were deployed in violation of the NDP Act. Its banking App at the material time had been downloaded over one million times.
Head of Legal, Enforcement and Regulations of the NDPC, Mr Babatunde Bamigboye who signed the statement said that apart from internal non-compliance, the Bank relies on some non-compliant third-party data processors.
“The law not only enjoins an organization to be compliant, it also mandates its relevant vendors, agents or contractors, among others to be accountable when handling personal data of individuals”, said the NDPC.
“It is to be noted that the initial decision of the Commission was issued since July 2023 and a directive to pay a remedial fee was issued in December 2023 Over ten correspondences were exchanged”, the statement further said.
The NDPC revealed that it issued repeated warnings to no avail syressing that it gave several opportunities for full accountability for over one year-taking into account the need to encourage compliance as a culture.
“However, Fidelity Bank did not provide requisite, satisfactory remedial plan”, the Commission noted.
The National Commissioner and CEO of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, enjoins Data Controllers and Data Processors to eschew acts that may undermine trust and confidence in Nigeria’s capacity to protect data driven decisions and transactions.
He noted that without demonstrable assurance of accountability in the exchange of goods and services, economic growth would be gravely hampered.
