Privacy and Personal Data
Protection Policy

Introduction

In its everyday business operations Ethnos Cyber makes use of a variety of data about identifiable individuals, including data about:

1. Current, past and prospective employees
2. Customers
3. Users of its websites
4. Subscribers
5. Other stakeholders

In collecting and using this data, the organization is subject to a variety of legislation controlling how such activities may be carried out and the safeguards that must be put in place to protect it.

The purpose of this policy is to set out the relevant legislation and to describe the steps Ethnos Cyber is taking to ensure that it complies with it.

This control applies to all systems, people and processes that constitute the organization's information systems, including board members, directors, employees, suppliers and other third parties who have access to Ethnos Cyber systems.

The following policies and procedures are relevant to this document:

1. Information Classification Procedure
2. Information Labelling Procedure
3. Records Retention and Protection Policy
4. Acceptable Use policy
5. Electronic Messaging Policy
6. Internet Access Policy
7. Social Media Policy
8. Information Security Incident Response Procedure
9. Information Security Roles, Responsibilities and Authorities

Reference

The following areas of the ISO/IEC 27001 standard are addressed by this document:

1. A05 Organizational controls
1. A05.1 Policies for information security
2. A05.34 Privacy and protection of PII

Privacy and Personal data protection policy

The Nigeria Data Protection Data

National Data Protection Act (NDPA) is one of the most significant pieces of legislation affecting the way that Ethnos Cyber carries out its information processing activities. Significant fines are applicable if a breach is deemed to have occurred under the NDPA, which is designed to protect the personal data of citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is Ethnos Cyber's policy to ensure that our compliance with the NDPA and other relevant legislation is always clear and demonstrable.

Definitions

There are a total of 26 definitions listed within the NDPA regulation – it is not appropriate to reproduce them all here. However, the most fundamental definitions with respect to this policy are as follows:

Personal data is defined as: “any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person ('data subject'); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person.”

Processing means: “any operation or set of operations which is performed on personal data or on sets of personal data, whether or not by automated means, such as collection, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation or alteration, retrieval, consultation, use, disclosure by transmission, dissemination or otherwise making available, alignment or combination, restriction, erasure or destruction.”

Controller means: “the natural or legal person, public authority, agency or other body which, alone or jointly with others, determines the purposes and means of the processing of personal data; where the purposes and means of such processing are determined by Union or Member State law, the controller or the specific criteria for its nomination may be provided for by Union or Member State law.”

Principles relating to processing of personal data

There are several fundamental principles upon which the NDPA is based.

These dictate that personal data shall be:

1. Processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner in relation to the data subject ('lawfulness, fairness and transparency').
2. Collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner that is incompatible with those purposes ('purpose limitation').
3. Adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed ('data minimisation').
4. Accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date ('accuracy').
5. Kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed ('storage limitation').
6. Processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data, including protection against unauthorised or unlawful processing and against accidental loss, destruction, or damage, using appropriate technical or organisational measures ('integrity and confidentiality').

In addition, the controller shall be responsible for, and be able to demonstrate compliance with all these principles ('accountability').

Ethnos Cyber must ensure that it complies with all these principles both in the processing it currently carries out and as part of the introduction of new methods of processing such as new IT systems. The operation of an information security management system (ISMS) that conforms to the ISO/IEC 27001 international standard is a key part of that commitment.

Rights of the individual

The data subject also has rights under the NDPA. These consist of:

1. The right to be informed
2. The right of access
3. The right to rectification
4. The right to erasure
5. The right to restrict processing
6. The right to data portability
7. The right to object
8. Rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.

Each of these rights must be supported by appropriate procedures within Ethnos Cyber that allow the required action to be taken within the timescales stated in the NDPA.

These timescales are shown in Table 1.

Consent

Unless it is necessary for a reason allowable in the NDPA, consent must be obtained from a data subject to collect and process their data. In case of children below the age of 16 (Note -this age may be lower in individual countries) parental consent must be obtained. Transparent information about our usage of their personal data must be provided to data subjects at the time that consent is obtained and their rights regarding their data explained, such as the right to withdraw consent. This information must be provided in an accessible form, written in clear language and free of charge.

If the personal data are not obtained directly from the data subject, then this information must be provided within a reasonable period after the data are obtained and definitely within one month.

Privacy by design

Ethnos Cyber has adopted the principle of privacy by design and will ensure that the definition and planning of all new or significantly changed systems that collect, or processp ersonal data will be subject to due consideration of privacy issues, including the completion of one or more privacy (also known as data protection) impact assessments.

The privacy impact assessment will include:

1. Consideration of how personal data will be processed and for what purposes
2. Assessment of whether the proposed processing of personal data is both necessary and proportionate to the purpose(s)
3. Assessment of the risks to individuals in processing the personal data
4. What controls are necessary to address the identified risks and demonstrate compliance with legislation

Use of techniques such as data minimization and pseudonymisation will be considered where applicable and appropriate.

Transfer of personal data

Transfers of personal data outside the country must be carefully reviewed prior to the transfer taking place to ensure that they fall within the limits imposed by the NDPA. This depend partly on the NDPA's judgement as to the adequacy of the safeguards for personal data applicable in the receiving country and this may change over time.

It may be necessary for specific contractual terms to be used to cover international transfers.Where possible, these should be based upon standard contractual clauses (SCCs) made available by the relevant authority.

Intra-group international data transfers may be subject to legally binding agreements referred to as Binding Corporate Rules (BCR) which provide enforceable rights for data subjects.

Data protection officer

A defined role of Data Protection Officer (DPO) is required under the NDPA if an organization is a public authority, if it performs large scale monitoring or if it processes particularly sensitive types of data on a large scale. The DPO is required to have an appropriate level of knowledge and can either be an in-house resource or outsource.

Based on these criteria, Ethnos Cyber requires a Data Protection Officer to be appointed.

Breach notification

It is Ethnos Cyber's policy to be fair and proportionate when considering the actions to be taken to inform affected parties regarding breaches of personal data. In line with the NDPA,every data controller must stipulate a process for notifying NITDA on identified data breaches within seventy-two hours of the breach. This will be managed in accordance with our Information Security Incident Response Procedure which sets out the overall process of handling information security incidents.

Under the NDPA the relevant supervisory authority has the power to impose a range of fines of up to four percent of annual worldwide turnover or twenty million Naira, whichever is the higher, for infringements of the regulations.

Addressing compliance to the NDPA

The following actions are undertaken to ensure that Ethnos Cyber complies at all times with the accountability principle of the NDPA:

1. The legal basis for processing personal data is clear and unambiguous
2. A Data Protection Officer is appointed with specific responsibility for data protection
3. In the organization
4. All staff involved in handling personal data understand their responsibilities for
5. Following good data protection practice
6. Training in data protection has been provided to all staff
7. Rules regarding consent are followed
8. Routes are available to data subjects wishing to exercise their rights regarding
9. Personal data and such enquiries are handled effectively
10. Regular reviews of procedures involving personal data are carried out
11. Privacy by design is adopted for all new or changed systems and processes
12. The following documentation of processing activities is recorded:
1. Organization name and relevant details
2. Purposes of the personal data processing
3. Categories of individuals and personal data processed
4. Categories of personal data recipients
5. Agreements and mechanisms for transfers of personal data to non-EU
6. countries including details of controls in place
7. Personal data retention schedules
8. Relevant technical and organisational controls in place

These actions will be reviewed on a regular basis as part of the management review process of the information security management system.