NINCard Limited, a private company which provided identity related services to Nigerians without a licence from the National Identity Management Commission, has shut down its webpage, FIJ can confirm.
FIJ has been monitoring the website since August 8 when a report about the company’s activities was published. At press time, the company’s page has been disabled.
The return prompt when users try to access the page is a 522 error message. Error 522 means the website’s server did not respond to Cloudflare in time. Cloudfare is essentially a security and speed layer in front of websites.
READ MORE: NINCard Illegally Provided ID Services. NIMC Knew 13 Months Ago but Didn’t Shut It Down
A 522 error means that the site itself is too slow to load. It could also mean that the site or its server is offline.
Before its removal, NINCard Limited, a registered business, allowed users to print National Identification Numbers and modify or make changes to personal information. These services were meant to be exclusive to Nigeria’s identity management agency or agencies and companies with permits and licences.
But NINcard Limited was not in any list sanctioned by the NIMC at press time.
FIJ had documented how the registered business mooched off the NIMC’s service delivery issues. The social media page of the business, especially on X, had targeted X users who had service-related complaints under the NIMC’s page.
Before FIJ’s report, the NIMC had issued a rather weak public warning on X dissociating itself from the service. But it was not shut down; it continued to run digitally using the same playbook. The business even interacted with the NIMC’s page directly.
READ ALSO: How CBN, Edo, Other Govt Sites Leak BVNs, Personal Data of Nigerians
Per the NIMC Act, individuals who use information from the agency’s database are liable to imprisonment of up to three years or a penalty fine of N1 million or both.
Aside from the NIMC’s enabling act, the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, also makes it unlawful to process personal data — especially biometric or identity-related information — without legal authorisation or clear user consent.
Violations of this Act could attract fines of up to N10 million, 1% of a company’s gross annual revenue or criminal prosecution. Even the infamous Cybercrimes Act criminalises this kind of access.
READ ALSO: Another Illegal Website Offers Access to Nigerians’ NIN Details With Just N150, Phone Number
The issuance of unoriginal or fraudulent slips could be interpreted as impersonation and identity theft. Violators could be fined up to N7 million or get three years in prison, depending on the discretion of the judge and the charges against such an entity.
The shutdown of NINcard’s website as a result of FIJ’s report means one less illegal data entity for Nigerians to worry about.
The post After FIJ’s Story, Illegal NINCard Website Shuts Down appeared first on Foundation For Investigative Journalism.