A Kenyan man has filed a lawsuit against the popular caller identification app Truecaller, claiming it has violated data protection laws.
The lawsuit, filed in a Kenyan court, alleges that Truecaller has violated the country’s Data Protection Act of 2019 through various infractions, including the unauthorized disclosure of users’ personal information and the transfer of data to India without consent. This legal challenge comes at a time when privacy concerns are increasingly at the forefront of public discourse in Kenya. A recent incident involving the Gen Z protests exemplifies these concerns, as several high-profile individuals found their phone numbers shared on social media platforms, leaving them vulnerable to harassment and threats.
Truecaller’s popularity in Kenya is undeniable, with the country ranking among the top ten global users of the application since its introduction to the market in 2018. However, this widespread adoption has not exempted the company from legal scrutiny. The lawsuit contends that Truecaller has failed to register as a data controller or processor in Kenya, a requirement under the Data Protection Act. Furthermore, it accuses the app of providing inadequate protection for Kenyan users’ privacy rights compared to those in other jurisdictions.
The legal action in Kenya is part of a broader global trend of increasing awareness and enforcement of data protection laws. Similar cases have emerged in other countries, such as Nigeria, where a class-action lawsuit was filed against Truecaller on similar grounds. However, the Nigerian court ruled in favour of Truecaller. In Kenya, the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has been actively working to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act having recently issued several decisions on privacy-related complaints.
