E-commerce growth hinges on consumer trust — NDPC CEO

…warns against data profiling risks

The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has warned e-commerce operators against the unlawful collection, processing, and profiling of consumer data, stressing that the growth of Nigeria’s digital marketplace depends entirely on earning and sustaining public trust.

The National Commissioner and CEO of the NDPC, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, sounded the warning while delivering the keynote address at a validation workshop on the Data Privacy Framework for E-Commerce in Abuja.

Dr. Olatunji underscored that e-commerce businesses cannot thrive in an environment where consumers fear for the safety of their personal information.

He emphasized that building and maintaining consumer confidence is foundational to digital transactions, illustrating with practical scenarios how trust directly drives commercial viability.

Highlighting the legal and commercial fallout of regulatory defaults, the NDPC boss cautioned operators against running afoul of the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDP Act), 2023.

He warned that improper data handling particularly unauthorized tracking, unlawful data processing, and arbitrary profiling of data subjects exposes businesses to severe compliance sanctions and erodes consumer confidence.

The workshop was organised by the commission in partnership with the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) to drive sectoral compliance with the NDP Act.

The Abuja session followed an earlier engagement in Lagos with private-sector actors, aiming to incorporate public-sector perspectives into the national e-commerce framework.

The event drew senior officials across the public and private sectors, including the Head of Development Cooperation at the German Embassy, Dr. Karin Jansen, who represented the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to Nigeria, H.E. Annett Günther.