Introduction
Dubbed the new oil, consumer data drives global digital economy
with new business models developed to leverage data analytics for
target marketing. This has resulted in exponential growth for big
tech companies, reflected in their market capitalisation or
valuations.1
According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC),
internet penetration (as at August 2018) was 105 million with more
than 20.5 million Nigerians using smart phones.2 This
has created a deluge of data for technology companies (TechCos) and
other digital service providers which are mined and sold to
advertisers with nil or minimal direct value attributable
to either the government or data subjects (DSs). Hence, the clamour
for data privacy regulations on one hand and data residency on the
other. This has been argued to have the potential to grant data
sovereignty to countries where such data emanates.
