The Federal High Court, Lagos has upheld a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulation requiring financial institutions to collect customers’ social media handles as part of their Know-Your-Customer (KYC) procedures.
On Thursday, May 16, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba ruled that the regulation does not infringe on bank customers’ privacy rights.
Justice Dimgba dismissed a suit filed by Lagos lawyer Chris Eke, who sought a declaration that the regulation in Section 6(a)(iv) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Customer Due Diligence) Regulations, 2023, is unconstitutional.
Eke argued the new CBN regulation was undemocratic and violated Section 37 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
The applicant sought an order of perpetual injunction to prevent CBN from enforcing the regulation requiring financial institutions to request customers’ social media handles as part of due diligence.
In response, CBN filed a notice of preliminary objection, challenging the suit’s competence and denying that the regulation interferes with privacy.
Justice Dimgba upheld the preliminary objection and struck out the suit.
The judge stated that providing a social media handle is akin to providing an email address or phone number, which are means of contact for due diligence to determine a customer’s suitability for the bank.
According to Justice Dimgba, the purpose of a social media account is for public visibility, and it would be unreasonable to claim a breach of privacy.
The judge noted that the claim was speculative as the applicant did not demonstrate that he had an account with a financial institution or that any bank had requested his social media handle.
Furthermore, there was no evidence that any financial institution had started implementing the regulation or that it had caused public inconvenience, which could justify the suit as public interest litigation.
Justice Dimgba concluded that customers have the choice to refuse to do business with banks requesting social media handles and can seek other alternatives.
He reiterated that providing a social media handle does not amount to a privacy breach and that it is ironic to claim privacy rights over publicly visible information.
Justice Dimgba emphasized that requesting such information for business applications is common practice and does not constitute a privacy breach.
The judge dismissed the apprehension that financial institutions would monitor social interactions as speculative and implausible.
Ultimately, the court struck out the suit after sustaining the notice of preliminary objection.
