Security-Driven Identification and Data Privacy: Lessons from Nigeria and India

Abstract

As mobile phones have become an integral part of socio-technical participation, states have made it imperative to collect biometric data in exchange for access to a network for the purpose of ensuring national security. This paper examines the conflict between national security interests and the right to privacy in Nigeria and India in the context of the obligation of registration of SIMs and linkage to identity through a biometric system. Through a doctrinal research methodology and comparative approach, it examines the legal frameworks in Nigeria and India, including the Registration of Telephone Subscribers Regulations 2011 in Nigeria and the Telecommunications Act 2023 in India. It also examines the legal systems in both countries through the lens of the New Social Contract theory. This article finds that the security benefits in Nigeria and India are uncertain due to poor implementation practices, such as the black market for pre-registered SIM cards and marginalisation through digital exclusion. In addition, there is a lack of independent oversight, which poses threats of mass surveillance. The existing policies on mandatory SIM registration embody a coercive social contract as opposed to a consensual one, reflecting an asymmetrical transfer of power to the state with no corresponding obligation regarding the right to privacy. There is a need to ensure that the legal frameworks in both countries comply with international standards of necessity and data minimisation. The creation of separate supervisory structures and judicial authority in the security-privacy trade-off in Nigeria and India is important in the rebuilding of democratic legitimacy.

Keywords: SIM Registration, National Security, Right to Privacy, New Social Contract Theory, Biometric Data, Nigeria, India, Data Minimisation, Mass Surveillance, Digital Exclusion