A recently released National Information Technology Authority (NITA-U) report on data protection has revealed that SafeBoda did not sell any customer data.
Recent social media reports claimed that SafeBoda has been involving itself in selling customers data through its ride-hailing applications last year, forcing NITA to take up the claims for further investigations.
According to the report that has been accessed by Nile Post, NITA-U has said that SafeBoda did not sell any of its users’ data as cited in the report.
“There was no evidence found to support allegations that SafeBoda sells its users’ personal data,” the report notes.
The report lists some recommendations for SafeBoda to comply with.
NITA said that with the internet and the ever-changing rules on internet data privacy across the world, start-ups like SafeBoda need to be aware of compliance with a myriad of local and international rules on data protection and privacy.
“SafeBoda is no different from any start-up or company and needs to keep working to ensure it can comply with rules and regulations,” the NITA report said.
NITA-U also commended SafeBoda noting that the startup “was cooperative during the investigation and has also made efforts towards compliance including improving its data protection policies to comply with provisions of the Act”.
In another recommendation, NITA-U focused on some of the data-processors that SafeBoda uses to improve the app performance. The report was primarily concerned about CleverTap, a world-renowned data processor and analytical software.
Specifically, NITA-U’s finding is that SafeBoda’s disclosure of its users’ personal data to CleverTap contravened the Data Protection and Privacy Act since the “consents” relied upon for the disclosure were not specific neither were customers informed.
NITA-U also recommended that SafeBoda Data Privacy Policy be made more readily available to customers.
“We are working on this to make sure that the customers can find our policies more easily on both the website and our app. This is something we strive to do to improve in service to customers. Ensuring our staff and the wider team understands the importance of data protection is also paramount. NITA-U in the report highlighted that staff policy should also be updated to reflect Data Privacy requirements.
Following the recommendations, SafeBoda told this reporter that they have already updated their employee handbook and will be ensuring that staff complete regular mandatory training to ensure that they remain up-to-date with any changes to data privacy and protection laws and that they are reminded of their key responsibilities.
SafeBoda Co-founder Ricky Thompson Rapa said: “This is a new area for many start-ups and it is our job to ensure we continue updating our training materials to continually educate our team on this.”
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