The Biometric Bank Verification Number (BVN) scheme in Nigeria, by the country’s banking and financial regulator, Central Bank of Nigeria, would give bank customers a single identifier across the country’s banking industry.
With the BVN, fragmented bank details of individuals will link up to a single identifier that calls up these details in one pool whenever that identifier (BVN) is queried.
Noble idea, and Nigerians only had to go into any commercial bank, and spend a couple minutes to get this done. But Nigerians weren’t really paying attention. Not until yesterday when the CBN announced it was ending the exercise and restricting some banking services to accounts that are yet to get with the programme.
Then this happened.
@THEBEAT979FM @WaleOzolua @JosieAmiegbe dis is gtbank dis morning all for #BVN #MorningRush pic.twitter.com/LYr6niOg6F
— Half amazing (@seun_ibitoye) June 30, 2015
Thankfully, the exercise has been postponed till October 29, 2015.
We have an idea why Nigerians ignored all the bulk emails and SMSes from their banks begging them to sync their account details, but this tweetstorm from Nigeria’s popular ICT policy advocate, Gbenga Sesan shares a couple things that didn’t quite square up with the exercise.
1. CBN and NIMC last week failed to agree on who should have full control over the Biometric Bank Verification Number (BVN) scheme
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
2. NIMC Act 2007 empowers it to create, manage… harmonise existing identification databases and integrate into National Identity Database
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
3. NIMC DG: Any other biometric capturing outside NIMC's project should be regarded as null and void… stop duplication of biometric data.
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
4. CBN: BVN will not go the way of other attempts. We will need to put up a fight in certain direction [NIMC]… BVN has to succeed.
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
5. Although CBN had agreed to share its database from the BVN with NIMC, there are fears that this will also take some time to harmonise.
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
6. Ladies/gentlemen, BVN registration is an illegal (NIMC Act) and disputed (see earlier tweets) project that violates your right to privacy
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
7. Unfortunately, even the legal NIMC project has put cart before horse. Nigeria does not have a Data Privacy law. Your data is unprotected
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
8. NIMC Act has insufficient provisions for data privacy/protection hence NIMC's yet-to-succeed efforts towards #DataPrivacy law for Nigeria
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
9. Following an initial FoI request by @pinigeria @ppmonitorNG we have initiated a lawsuit on #DataPrivacy against NIMC, to protect our data
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
10. BVN registration has been postponed. It won't stop there. NIMC has stronger legal standing, so CBN will have to cancel or merge with NIN
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
And then on where we stand in a context without privacy laws?
Silos, within a context that lacks #DataPrivacy law, are why you get eMails trying to sell you personal information of "important Nigerians"
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
Various collectors of personal (including biometric) data promise diverse security features but how do you seek redress in cases of abuse?
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
What if your now-unprotected biometric data is planted in a terrorism scenario, by a government/entity that doesn't like you? Or in error?
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
NCC and INEC lost some data. A laptop used for SIM registration was sold, with active data! Nigerians need protection via #DataPrivacy law.
— 'Gbénga Sèsan (@gbengasesan) July 2, 2015
Fonebase founder and CEO, Oo Nwoye has an interesting take on the exercise featuring a cheeky Tolu Ogunlesi reference. Check it out here.
