As the world marks Data Privacy Week under the theme “Take Control of Your Data,” digital rights organisation Paradigm Initiative (PIN) has praised countries that have taken steps to strengthen data protection laws to safeguard people’s privacy.

Data Privacy Week is observed to mark the signing of Convention 108 on January 28, 1981, the first legally binding international treaty on privacy and data protection.

In a statement, PIN noted that Djibouti, The Gambia and Burundi enacted new data protection laws in June 2025, September 2025 and January 2026 respectively. The organisation also acknowledged Botswana, whose data protection law came into force in January 2025, and Algeria, which amended its law in July 2025 to include clear rules on appointing Data Protection Officers.

"We acknowledge Botswana, whose law came into force in January 2025, and Algeria, which amended its data protection law in July 2025 to include obligations regarding the appointment of Data Protection Officers. Beyond the adoption of data protection laws," PIN stated,

PIN, however, stressed that passing laws alone is not enough. It urged data protection authorities to fully implement and enforce these laws to protect the rights of data subjects.

The organisation highlighted its work in challenging data privacy violations across Africa, especially in Nigeria. In 2024, PIN exposed unauthorised websites that claimed to sell sensitive personal and financial data of Nigerian citizens for as little as 100 Naira.

That same year, following PIN’s legal action, the United Bank of Africa (UBA) Plc was ordered by a Nigerian court to pay N8 million in damages for violating a customer’s data privacy by opening a domiciliary account without her consent.

In 2025, a Federal High Court in Abuja also delivered a landmark judgment against Domino’s Pizza Nigeria, owned by Eat’n’Go, for unlawfully using a customer’s personal data for direct marketing. The court ruled that the company violated Nigeria’s Constitution and the Nigeria Data Protection Act, 2023, and awarded N3 million in damages to the affected customer, Chukwunweike Araka Akosa.

PIN said the case was reported through its Ripoti platform, which documents and responds to digital rights violations across Africa and supports victims through pro-bono legal services.

Despite these gains, PIN raised concern about countries that still lack strong data protection laws, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, South Sudan, Sudan, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea and Western Sahara. The organisation warned that the absence of such laws exposes citizens to serious data privacy risks.

PIN called on countries without data protection legislation, including Liberia, Namibia, Sierra Leone, Mozambique and Libya, to urgently enact laws and policies to protect the privacy rights of their citizens.