NITDA Issues Deadline for Data Privacy Compliance
TECHDIGEST – The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has emphasized that deadline for the filling of annual data audit report by all data controllers and processors still remains 15th March, 2021.
The Director General, Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi stated this at the National Privacy Week 2021 press conference and unveiling of the week’s activities, held virtually on Monday.
He warned that noncompliance is a punishable offence and that the agency is set to fully enforce the legal provisions this year.
According to him, in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) which was designed to meet the global principles on data protection and issued on 25th January, 2019, the agency has recorded a lot of remarkable feats through sustained public awareness, implementation structure, legal and political structure for sustainability among other NDPR implementation strategies.
“So far, we are the first country in Africa to dedicate a whole week to public awareness on data privacy protection. Also, we have treated 1,200 questions, request for clarification and other enquiries from the public on the issue of data protection,” he said.
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The DG revealed that the NDPR implementation recorded compliance from many organizations than could be imagined with the financial sector leading by 35%, fast moving consumer goods 14%, energy 10% and consultancy 9%.
Others are ICT 8%, transport and logistics 5% while other sectors accounted for 19% of the total record.
He further revealed that as part of the NITDA’s 2021 vision, the Agency is poised to develop a toolkit for sector stakeholder to agree on a single, workable template for data privacy compliance in their sector, standardize NIDPR courses trainings in order to develop a multi-billion naira sector that would create thousands of jobs for trainers, content providers and other professionals, rejig enforcement mechanism for data protection compliance as it has become a pivot for the continued growth of the digital economy, among other plans.
Organized and hosted by NITDA, Nigeria will mark her National Privacy Week 2021 starting Tuesday with a line of activities that includes a Privacy Tech Expo, Privacy and Public Health Management – Lessons from COVID-19 on Tuesday 26th, National Virtual Class on Data Protection (for Secondary Schools), NIN: Preserving Privacy; Promoting the Digital Economy on Wednesday 27th January, Global Privacy Day and Executive Roundtable with the theme: Big Tech and Privacy: Evolving an African Data Strategy which would comprise of representatives of Africa’s big tech, the African Union, international law firm and the government on Thursday 28th January.