The Nigeria Government has expressed concern on the updated Privacy Policy of the WhatsApp messaging application.
The Policy states that WhatsApp will share information about the users on their platform with their parent company (Facebook), as well as other Facebook companies.
The information includes user phone numbers, “transaction data, service-related information, information on how you interact with others (including businesses) when using our Services, mobile device information, your IP address.”
Furthermore, WhatsApp has indicated that users who refuse to accept their revised privacy policy risk not being able to use the service at all.
Dr Femi Adeluyi Technical Assistant (Information Technology) to Minister of Communications and Digital Economy said the development had been brought to the attention of the Minister, Dr Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.
He said the Federal Government released the Nigeria Data Protection Regulations (NDPR) in 2019 and was committed to upholding the data privacy of Nigerians.
Adeluyi said they were also aware that the European region was exempted from the provisions of the updated Policy and it was also being challenged in a number of countries.
He said the Minister had directed the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), as the Regulator of the Information Technology sector, to engage vigorously with Facebook to understand the processes, level of security, of the data of Nigerian users in order to ensure that Policies proposed for Nigeria strictly adhered to the provisions of NDPR.
Adeluyi said Nigerians should rest assured that the Federal Government would give uttermost attention to the privacy of their data, in line with the NDPR and the National Digital Economy Policy for a Digital Nigeria.
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