The federal government through the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) is investigating the data processing activities of Temu over alleged breaches of Nigeria’s data protection laws.
In a statement issued on Monday, Babatunde Bamigboye, head of legal, enforcement and regulations at the commission, said the directive followed concerns that the platform’s activities “may be in violation” of the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDP Act), 2023.
The statement said Vincent Olatunji, national commissioner and chief executive officer of NDPC, approved the probe.
According to the commission, the investigation was triggered by issues relating to online surveillance through personal data processing, accountability obligations, data minimisation requirements, transparency standards, duty of care, and cross-border data transfers.
“Preliminary investigations indicate that Temu is an e-commerce platform which processes personal information of approximately 12.7 million data subjects in Nigeria with 70 million daily active users globally,” the statement said.
The commission also warned that data processors acting on behalf of data controllers without verifying compliance with the NDP Act could be held liable under the law.
Earlier this month, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) and the NDPC signed a memorandum of understanding to strengthen collaboration on data privacy and protection.
The NDPC said the partnership is aimed at combining the expertise and regulatory capacities of both agencies to enhance the protection of Nigerians’ personal data.
