The Commission’s Executive Director, Patricia Adusei-Poku, said her outfit has received countless complaints of breaches of personal data and privacy rights from patrons of unlicensed online money lending applications.
“Digital loan services have become an increasingly easy-to-go-to avenue for people to access credit, as many are unable or ineligible to secure loans through traditional providers such as the banks.
But in recent times, the Data Protection Commission has received tons of complaints regarding the harassment and debt shaming approaches these online digital loan services are using to deal with defaulters.
“Our background checks have established that these online loan applications are unlicensed and therefore have no authorization to operate,” the statement said.
It is on this premise that the Commission is cautioning the general public against unlicensed online loan applications (apps), citing widespread violation of personal data.
The DPC explained in a statement that digital lending apps require certain permissions upon installation, including access to users’ private information such as their contacts, text messages, location, and calendar, and that one would have thought that the data collected is used to screen users’ behavioural data and assess their eligibility for loans.
In accordance with further complaints, loan app administrators continue to violate borrowers’ private rights even in the event of complete repayment. They do this by using the data in their hands.
The statement added the Data Protection Commission has continued to receive several complaints that clearly describe the commotion these apps have caused the country.
“We have also assessed a few privacy notices of these apps which complicate their mode of operation as they do not show any accountability to their clients in terms of how their data is going to be used in actual fact”.
The Data Protection Act 2012 Act (843) protects users from unnecessary disclosures of their private information. Under the regulations, any data gathered should have a legitimate purpose, with a specific mandate on the data controller to let borrowers know, in simple and clear language, what data will be collected and how it would be used.
“We have looked at the privacy policies of these apps and have determined the below-mentioned apps have and continue to process individuals’ personal data in a manner that is not consistent with the provisions of the Act and they are Ficashx; popcash; kudicredit; Cocoaloan; Popcash; smartmoney; sikapurse; Easy Loan; SoftKash; Boseafie Loans; Fourcredy; Sika dua; Creditbay; Creditlab; Akwaaba Cash; and MomCash.
Others are Ultra Loans; Onloans; Loan Pro; Cedi Story; Machloan; Loan Galaxy; and Pro Kash.
