MultiChoice Nigeria has been fined N766,242,500 by the Federal Government through the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) for breaking the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDP Act).
According to the NDPC, Multichoice illegally transferred personal data across borders and violated subscriber privacy.
Babatunde Bamigboye, NDPC’s Head of Legal, Enforcement, and Regulations, said in a statement available to BrandSpur national news desk, released on Sunday that the fine was imposed in response to complaints regarding the company’s handling of customer information. It disclosed that an inquiry was carried out in the second quarter of 2024, following which it was found that MultiChoice had processed subscriber and associate personal data without the required consent or legal basis.
According to the statement: “The Commission also found that MultiChoice carries out illegal cross-border transfer of personal data relating to data subjects in Nigeria. The depth of data processing by MultiChoice is patently intrusive, unfair, unnecessary, and disproportionate.”
According to the NDPC, these actions violate both national and international data sovereignty obligations and Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution, which protects the right to privacy. The Commission stated that MultiChoice’s response was considered inadequate, even though it had previously issued the company standard remediation directives.
Continuing, the statement reveals: “For want of cooperation, the Commission has directed MultiChoice to pay N766,242,500 for violating the Nigeria Data Protection Act.”
However, a compliance audit of every platform MultiChoice uses to gather data from Nigerians was also mandated by the NDPC, which also threatened harsh penalties for any infractions of the NDP Act. The fine and the Commission’s conclusions have not yet received a public response from MultiChoice Nigeria.
