11042018 - Buhari’s ‘one term’ offer in 2011 no longer applies

C
M
Y
K
26—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 11, 2018
Cambridge Analytica: Facebook warns Nigerians to manage apps, control access to data
By Prince Osuagwu
Facebook has officially released
the correct number of Nigerian
users their data were accessed
by Cambridge Analytica. This is
as it warns that users should manage
apps that they use and control
access to the data those apps
can see.
Since the scandal of Cambridge
Analytica’s alleged processing of
user’s data for electoral manipulations
broke out, several figures
have been bandied on social media
and other platforms about the
number of Nigerian users Cambridge
Analytica had access to
their data.
Facebook has officially confirmed
that about 78 Nigerian users were
directly involved as they installed
the app provided by Cambridge
Analytica while 271,469 users were
potentially impacted in Nigeria
because they are friends to those
who would have installed the app
elsewhere in the world.
However, a facebook spokesperson
who pleaded anonymity has
warned Nigerians to manage the
apps they use to forestall future
occurrence.
“We want to encourage people
to manage the apps they use. We
already show people what apps
their accounts are connected to and
control what data they’ve permitted
those apps to use through app
settings. We are putting a link at
the top of people’s News Feeds to
make sure that everyone sees it.
Furthermore, it’s important for us
to tell people if and how their data
may have been accessed via This
Is Your Digital Life," he added.
He revealed that Facebook is taking
numerous measures. One of
those being that everyone globally
on their Facebook page will see
an alert leading them to the apps
setting where they can review the
apps they’ve allowed access to
their data.
Additionally, those potentially
impacted by CA will also see the
alert that will take them to see what
data might have been shared.
Apparently to increase transparency,
accountability and maybe
prevent election interference, Facebook
also announced changes
to the way advertisements are
managed both on its platform and
on Instagram.
Vice-President in charge of Ads
at facebook, Rob Goldman and his
counterpart for Local & Pages, Alex
Himel, said Facebook has realised
that users hardly know who or
where advertisements on the platform
are coming from and therefore
has decided to correct that mistake.
They said: “We believe that
when you visit a Page or see an ad
on Facebook, it should be clear
who it’s coming from. We also think
it’s important for people to be able
to see the other ads a Page is running,
even if they’re not directed
at you.
How continued unsolicited
messages destroy telecom
sector growth
•Subscribers call for tougher measures
•As NCC’s DND code fails to tame monster
•Regulator vows to reform N72bn VAS sector, protect subscribers’ privacy
By Prince Osuagwu (Hi
Tech Editor) & Tare
Youdeowei
The issue of unsolicited mes
sages from telecom opera
tors to subscribers has become
a recurrent decimal in the
Nigerian telecom sector.
However, the regulator, the Nigerian
Communications Commission,
NCC, appears torn between
protecting the N72 billion
value added service, VAS, sector
and that of subscribers’ privacy.
While the commission admits
that there are challenges of VAS
operators flooding the networks
with all kinds of product offering
that most consumers may not be
interested in, it also considers
that Value Added Service is an
important element of the telecom
ecosystem necessary for optimising
the benefits of telecom
service to the consumers.
The commission believes that
“despite its challenges, the VAS
segment is a hub for job creation
and a huge revenue spinner for
the industry. In 2016, VAS market
was valued at N72 billion
($200 million) but it is estimated
to grow to $500 million in the next
five years.”
Nevertheless, Nigerians are at
the mercy of the operators with
incessant unsolicited text messages,
annoying mobile adverts and
unwarranted short code calls,
among other forms of VAS can
be likened to a lady forced to listen
to a suitor’s advances.
Some of these come in droves,
most times, draining the battery
power level of the phone, unsettling
and distracting subscribers
from legitimate duties or actions.
From subscribers’ account, operators
have even devised a new
method of automatically subscribing
users into some of the costly
VAS services without their consent.
These services that are charged
either weekly or monthly at grossly
high rates, take a toll on the financial
power of the subscribers
and in turn, tell on the Average
Revenue Per User, ARPU.
According to subscribers, all the
telcos are guilty of this and seem
not to regret it at all. President of
National Association of Telecom
Subscribers, NATCOMS, Chief
Deolu Ogubanjo, said that the issue
of unsolicited VAS messages
has remained a hydra-headed
monster that the regulator must
find a way to tackle.
He said that despite all the efforts
of the regulator, the operators
still defy the directive and do
their usual thing. He, however,
advocated heavy sanctions to send
strong signals that the operator
meant business in protecting the
rights of subscribers.
For him, “telecommunications
service providers do not deactivate
unsolicited messages when
subscribers send STOP to the code
provided. Even when that is
done, operators still charge for
sending the messages and continue
sending the unsolicited messages.
He added that “until heavy
sanctions are meted on the operators,
that is when we can have
some peace.”
At the 83rd Telecom Consumer
Parliament recently in Lagos, subscribers
also expressed frustration
at the situation they said have defied
all measures and asked the
NCC to come up with tougher
method of compelling the telcos
to comply with the rules of engagement.
One of the subscribers, Joseph
Igbu, warned the regulator that
treating the telcos with kid gloves
over the issue of forcing unwanted
VAS services on subscribers
can conveniently erode the
growth trajectories of the Nigerian
telecom sector and tarnish the
integrity the commission has
earned over the years.
He complained that “a situation
where a subscriber is not allowed
to opt out of a service he inadvertently
subscribed to should be
seen and regarded as unethical.
That is the situation most subscribers
in Nigeria currently find themselves
in.”
Another subscriber, who narrated
a similar story, said he has
been losing airtime daily to the
services he cannot remember subscribing
to. He said all attempts
to reach his operator to resolve the
abnormality have also failed.
“My service provider has continued
to deduct my airtime almost
on a daily basis. This is despite
subscribing to the ‘Do not
Disturb’ service being offered by
the NCC,” he said.
Meanwhile, if the rules and regulations
in the sector were to be
complied with, the issue of unsolicited
messages should have
been a thing of the past, considering
that the NCC since 2016,
directed all operators to activate a
short code, 2442, through which
subscribers can opt-in to a database
that would enable them register
their numbers against unsolicited
messages. The commission
was later to put force behind
the directive by declaring that any
operator found to violate the DND
service directive will pay as much
These services
that are charged
either weekly or
monthly at grossly
high rates, take
a toll on the financial
power of
the subscribers
and in turn, tell
on the Average
Revenue Per
User, ARPU
Continues on page 29