Introduction

As the largest Bar in Africa, the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) understands and appreciates the legal and economic benefits of data protection. The NBA is also mindful of her obligations as a controller of personal information of Nigerian legal practitioners entrusted to her as one of the statutory regulators of the legal profession in Nigeria.

In fulfilling the data protection principles of lawfulness, fairness & transparency and accountability, the NBA has published this privacy policy (notice) to provide concise but understandable information on its data management practices especially as it relates to data protection guaranteed by section 37 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).

  • processing (i.e collection, use, storage, transmission, modification and other activities relating to personal information) of personal information (personal data) accessed by the NBA through this platform.
  • processing of personal data accessed by the NBA through its other digital platforms.
  • processing of personal data accessed by the NBA manually or through its numerous activities.

This policy was last updated on 13 June 2022 and subject to further review on a need basis.

About the NBA

The NBA (we, us) is the umbrella body is the non-profit, umbrella professional association of all lawyers admitted to the Bar in Nigeria and a member of all statutory bodies that regulate the Nigerian Bar and Bench. The NBA is Nigeria’s foremost and oldest professional membership organisation and Africa's most influential network of legal practitioners, with over 120,000 lawyers on its roll in 125 active branches across the 36 States and the Federal Capital Territory of Nigeria. For more information, please visit https://nigerianbar.org.ng/

What personal information do we process?

Since legal practitioners in Nigeria are statutorily bound to register with the NBA upon their enrollment as barristers and solicitors of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the NBA collects the Supreme Court Number (SCN) from the Supreme Court after issuing it to the legal practitioners.

While (digitally or manually) regulating legal practice in Nigeria, we may collect the following inexhaustive personal data (depending on the activity):

  • Your names, sex, marital status, email addresses, telephone number, contact address, financial data, workplace, contact addresses, practice area, social media handles, year of call, date of birth etc
  • Your still or motion pictures (as processed by the video conferencing apps) or at live events, your voice, views, opinions, etc
  • Medical data when taking advantage of our health insurance scheme

Why do we process your personal information?

Subject to the purpose of processing, we may collect information through our websites or other digital platforms, electronic and paper correspondences, telephone conversations, photo and video cameras, video conferencing software, documents given to us by you or third parties, etc:

  • to perform our role as one of regulators of the legal profession in Nigeria
  • to register you for any of our numerous schemes and events
  • for employment and other activities requiring application/registration
  • for record keeping and updating, transparency, and accountability
  • for information dissemination purpose
  • to improve (legal) education analytics and research

What lawful bases do we rely on in processing your personal data?

In processing the personal data of its members, employees, and the general public, the NBA relies on the following lawful bases:

  • a.   Consent – for the personal data surrendered to us by the data subjects including legal practices and other members of the public
  • b.   Legal obligation – for the personal data shared with us by the Supreme Court of Nigeria or other bodies in the performance of our regulatory or sundry duties
  • c.   Legitimate interest – for the personal data that have justifiably come into our custody in the course of our activities as a professional association. /li>
  • d.  Public interest – when fulfilling our objective of promotion of rule of law.

How do you consent to the processing of your personal information?

When you voluntarily surrender/provide your personal data or documents embodying same through any of our digital or manual forms/platforms, you give your consent to our processing of such information until the contrary is communicated to us.

When you attend our virtual or physical events, you consent to the taking of motion or still pictures except you expressly communicate your disapproval.

How do you withdraw your consent?

If consent is the only legal basis on which we process your data, you can withdraw same by contacting the NBA Secretariat to cease processing your personal data. However, such withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of processing already done based on consent before withdrawal.

Who do we share your personal information with?

Your personal data processed by us may (where under legal obligation or duty, pursuing a legitimate interest of the NBA or in public interest) be shared with: our national officers and/or employees, law enforcement agents or third parties. However, we will not sell or share your data for marketing purposes or expose them to unauthorized persons.

How long do we keep your personal information?

We will only retain your personal data for as long as:

  • the law requires us to;
  • it is needed for the purposes set out in this policy or our regulatory obligations:
  • you have not legitimately and validly exercised your right to request deletion of personal data where applicable

How do we secure and store your personal information?

We have devised organizational and technical measures to secure your personal data from unauthorized access, corruption, compromise, theft, misappropriation or destruction.

Our systems and processes are designed and run to ensure that your personal data collected are as safe as possible at all stages of the processing including cloud computing storage systems. We also ensure that any third parties that accesses your data through us keep them secure at all material times.

What rights do you have over your personal information processed by us?

Subject to certain exceptions provided under relevant data protection legislation in force, you are entitled to the following data protection rights:

  • information on how your personal data is processed
  • right of access to your personal data
  • right to request deletion or erasure of your data
  • right to withdraw consent at any time
  • right to object to further processing of your data
  • right to rectification of your data
  • right to request us to transfer your data to another entity electronically
  • right to lodge a complaint with the relevant supervisory authority

What remedies do you have in the event of data breach?

In the event of data breach, we will satisfactorily address any complaint or any violation of your privacy rights in accordance with the relevant laws. You are also at liberty to seek redress under the dispute resolution mechanism provided by the relevant regulator or the law court. The time frame of such remedies is determinable by the relevant regulator.

How do you contact our Data Protection Officer?

You can contact our Data Protection Officer at info@nigerianbar.org.ng

How do we make changes to this privacy notice?

We may review this privacy policy from time to time. In that case, the ‘last updated’ date at the bottom of this page will also change. Any changes to this privacy policy takes effect immediately it is uploaded on our platforms.

Last updated June 13, 2022