cryptogon.com

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Civil liberties NGO Privacy International, which has raised concerns about misuse of surveillance data in Nigeria in the past — including the arrest of four journalists last year — said that the ambition of the data integration is worrying.

“Centralising and combining government databases makes it easy to link together pieces of information about an individual and build a near complete picture of someone’s life,” said the organisation’s legal officer, Anna Crowe.

“This type of capability is extremely invasive. The crucial issue is to put in place safeguards that guarantee fundamental principles of data protection are being respected, such as only using data for the purposes for which it was collected. This is extremely challenging for any country, let alone one that already faces significant challenges around corruption and ensuring respect for human rights.”

Perhaps the most controversial aspect of the cards, however, is that they combine a civil national identity scheme with a strongly commercial initiative. The new cards won’t just operate as proof of identity for citizens — they also function as payment cards backed by the local Access Bank and carry the Mastercard logo on the back.

“National ID schemes can prove problematic in many respects, but commercialisation of such a scheme raises additional, and serious, questions,” Crowe said. “What does Mastercard and the bank’s involvement entail? Will data be shared for commercial gain? How can Nigerians be confident that their right to privacy is being upheld?