Loan apps on the Play Store will lose their ability to access their users' contacts or photos starting May 31, 2023.
This came as the federal government said it would enforce Google's latest policy, saying the measure was in line with Nigerian authorities' move to curb customer privacy invasions by credit app companies.
The federal government had recently made important decisions aimed at addressing customer privacy invasions by credit apps . Remarkably, the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission had recently registered 170 out of the 200 credit apps operating in the country.
Google said in its April 2023 policy updates that the new policy update offers credit app users in Nigeria and Nigeria some breathing space would other places accustomed to crude credit retrieval methods used by most credit apps.
Google said “Policy Preview (effective May 31, 2023): This article provides a preview to changes contained in our April 2023 policy updates.
"We are updating our personal credit policy to specify that apps designed to provide or facilitate personal credit may not be allowed to access user contacts or photos.
"We are introducing additional requirements for personal credit apps that are on Target users in Pakistan. Personal lending apps in Pakistan are required to submit country-specific licensing documents to demonstrate their ability to provide or facilitate personal lending.”
This new policy comes after the company announced updates to its developer program policy mandating digital money lenders in Nigeria. India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Kenya must comply with regulations or be shut down by January 31.
According to the company, only digital funders that are compliant and contracted with the Limited Interim Regulatory Registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending, 2022 (as amended) by the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and obtaining a verifiable letter of approval from the FCCPC will be permitted on the Play Store in Nigeria.
Comment on the new policy to Prime9jaOnline, The Chief FCCPC Executive Officer Babatunde Irukera stated that this is a welcome development and shows that Google is institutionalizing its regulatory policy.
He said, "It is a welcome development effort and is consistent with the FCCPC's position and what we are enforcing."
“Google is now institutionalizing our regulatory efforts as a guideline, which is very welcome. This is certainly important for proper regulatory oversight of the industry and we commend Google for taking a position that is consistent with our position as regulators.”
He added: “Recall that we have taken this position earlier have and what has happened is that Google has looked at the regulatory landscape and regulatory priorities and is supporting those priorities by institutionalizing those regulatory priorities and positions.”
The FCCPC recently announced that it had accepted 173 digital lending applications for operations in the country approved. 119 of these received full approvals, while 54 received conditional approvals. The move became necessary after lending apps began harassing Nigerians by sending defamatory messages to their contacts and more.
The Commission's Limited Interim Regulatory registration Framework and Guidelines for Digital Lending 2022 is an attempt to to regulate the digital lending space and make registration and approval a requirement for companies wishing to enter this space.
Although Google's policy states that it does not allow "apps that promote personal loans that require full repayment within 60 days or less from the date of lending,” many lending apps in the country don’t comply, exposing many Nigerians to a leak of sensitive data, as well as wanting to limit what type of information they can pull from people’s phones and what they can do with that information, particularly in relation to contacting individuals on the contact list and their credit recovery practices; the type of language, when they call, what things they say.”