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Charges Content Creators to Respect Citizens’ Privacy
- Safiu Kehinde
The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has accused Lagos-based content creator, Ella, for invading the privacy of other commuters with her video capturing her assault ordeal in the hand of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) staff.
NPO Reported that Ella had on Wednesday shared a video of the BRT staff assaulting her at Elepe bus stop in Ikorodu area of Lagos.
The content creator was reported regularly recorded the commuters at the bus stop every morning while calling out the state government over shortage of buses at the bus stop.
While the video had sparked public outrage and also prompted deployment of more buses to the area, NDPC faulted the video in a statement issued on Friday by the commission’s Head of Legal, Enforcement, and Babatunde Bamigboye.
The NDPC maintained that taking pictures and video footage of unsuspecting members of the public violate the rights of citizens to informational self-determination as guaranteed under S.37 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023 (NDP Act).
Addressing Ella’s case which it labelled a reality show and abuse of rights, the commission maintained that the video recorded by the content creator served neither public nor legitimate interest.
“The particular case of a content creator who stands at roadsides in Lagos State to create a “reality show” of unsuspecting members of the general public raises concerns about abuse of rights in the name of entertainment.
“Processing the images of people, in this circumstance, requires consent unless the creator can justify her actions under other lawful bases of data processing.
“Preliminary investigation by the Commission reveals that this willful invasion of citizens’ privacy serves neither a public nor a legitimate interest.
“In any event, the data subjects involved have no expectation that their images will be captured and shared with the whole world by an unknown individual.” Bamigboye wrote.
The NDPC legal counsel disclosed that the commission’s CEO, Vincent Olatunji, has directed TikTok, X, and Meta owners to step up enforcement of community guidelines with the commission also imposing appropriate sanction under the NDP Act.
“In the wake of this development, the National Commissioner/CEO of the Commission, Dr Vincent Olatunji, has directed platform owners (such as TikTok, X, and Meta) to step up enforcement of community guidelines with a view to preventing harm to individuals through unlawful and unfair processing of personal data.
“For the avoidance of doubt, where a platform owner fails or neglects to act timeously in addressing harms, the Commission will not hesitate to impose appropriate sanctions under the NDP Act.
“More importantly, individual content creators are accountable for their acts and omissions and may be liable to criminal prosecution for violating the privacy rights of citizens and other data subjects in Nigeria.” Bamigboye added.