Officials of three (3) companies have been picked up for questioning for allegedly breaching data protection laws.
This was captured during the commencement of an enforcement exercise of data laws by the Data Protection Commission.
The companies are Hisense Ghana Limited, Quick Loan and micro-Investments limited and Marwako Fast Food.
Quick Credit Investment and Micro-Credit Limited, a prominent company offering loans to customers with interest, was cited for their alleged violation of the Data Protection Act 2012.
The commission’s action comes in response to a customer’s complaint regarding privacy breaches caused by the company.
The central issue revolves around the company’s alleged practice of publishing the names of defaulting customers in the public domain without obtaining proper consent, a violation that is expressly prohibited under the Data Protection Act 2012 (843).
In light of the allegations, the Data Protection Commission conducted an engagement with officials from Quick Credit Investment and Micro-Credit Limited. The Commission has directed the company to make itself available for a meeting by the close of work on Monday to address these allegations and discuss potential remedies.
During a press briefing, Quinton Akrobeto, the Director for Regulatory and Compliance at the Data Protection Commission, emphasized the gravity of the situation. He revealed that the complaint regarding the company’s unlawful practices was lodged with the Data Protection Commission by the lawyer representing one of the company’s clients.
“We will be expecting them at the Police Headquarters for further interrogation. We received a complaint about their non-compliance, and how they are processing personal data against their customers so we received a complaint from one lawyer who wrote in respect of their client and it is upon that that we have followed up to this place.”
Mr. Akrobeto explained that “What they [the companies] do is harass their customers, go to their homes and churches, and allow the whole world to know that they are owing them which is against their privacy.
Officials of two other companies were also picked up for questioning over possible privacy breaches.
