The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has asked the Federal High Court in Lagos to order the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to remove its direction to banks and other financial institutions requesting information from customers' social media accounts for identification.
In the suit, which has yet to be assigned to a judge, SERAP asked the court for a mandamus order compelling the CBN to remove the illegal rules of Section 6 of its customer due diligence regulations, 2023 for not following up with Section 39 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999 (as amended) and Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights.
The applicant claimed in an affidavit filed in support of the legal action that the required demand of users' social media names or addresses serves no legal purpose and that such information may restrict their expression and privacy.
SERAP further claimed that unless the requested reliefs are granted, the CBN would adopt and enforce the illegal directive, violating the rights of citizens to free expression and privacy.
It also claims that the extra need of acquiring a customer's social network handle or address "fails to meet the legality, necessity, and proportionality requirements."
The applicant also argued that since there are sufficient means of identification for the CBN, banks, and other financial institutions to rely on to meet the KYC requirement raises concerns about overreach and grants banks and financial institutions broad discretion.
It was argued that gathering information on clients' social media handles or addresses for identification purposes is more invasive than required.
Read more: https://www.investingport.com/serap...ns-to-collect-customers-social-media-handles/