Nigeria has launched an investigation into Truecaller's potential breach of privacy rights under the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation, announced the country's National Information Technology Agency (NITDA). The agency accused it of over-collection of user data and sharing it with third-party advertisers without users' consent. In a public statement, it warned people of Truecaller's violation of privacy rights, and urged users to delist from the app. The regulator - a federal government agency, established in 2001 - also said that "every Nigerian user is contracting with Truecaller India". We have reached out to Truecaller for clarification. NITDA didn't find Truecaller's privacy policy and terms and conditions in compliance with global data protection laws including Nigeria's. The country's Chief Information Technology Officer, Kashifu Abdullahi Inuwa, said that Truecaller's privacy policy has several “illegitimate provisions”. He added that the implications of these provisions may be “far-reaching” and put many Nigerians in “unsavoury conditions”. NITDA said that Truecaller users are susceptible to a "serious invasion of their privacy"; because the app's privacy policy says that it "supplements" users information by using information from third party apps, NITDA said this has encouraged people to continue using Nigerian identities to perpetuate fraud. The regulator also said that Truecaller collects more data than it is actually required for the app to function. NITDA also questioned Truecaller sharing users' personal information with third-party advertisers, and said that the app should inform users about the third-parties with which it shares their data along with a reason for doing so.…
