NDPC and others Joins Global Privacy Alliance to Tackle AI-Generated Content Risks
In a significant move toward safeguarding digital privacy, Nigeria’s Data Protection Commission (NDPC) has teamed up with 60 data protection authorities worldwide to address mounting concerns about AI-generated imagery and its impact on individual privacy rights.
The commission recently signed onto the “Joint Statement on AI-Generated Imagery and the Protection of Privacy”—an initiative spearheaded by the International Enforcement Cooperation Working Group (IEWG) under the Global Privacy Assembly. The statement reflects growing alarm among regulators about AI tools that can produce frighteningly realistic images and videos of real people without their knowledge or consent.
At the heart of these concerns is the troubling rise of AI-powered platforms being weaponized to create non-consensual imagery, spread defamatory material, and generate other damaging content. Children and vulnerable populations face particularly acute risks from these emerging threats.
The joint statement doesn’t just sound the alarm—it lays out clear expectations for organizations deploying these technologies. Companies must build robust protective measures into their systems, maintain transparency about how AI tools operate, establish reliable processes for removing harmful content, and fully comply with existing data protection regulations.
This international collaboration marks another chapter in Nigeria’s broader commitment to responsible AI governance. Earlier initiatives include the National AI Strategy championed by Dr. ‘Bosun Tijani, Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy. The NDPC has also rolled out its General Application and Implementation Directive (GAID), which requires privacy-by-design and privacy-by-default principles to be baked into AI development and deployment from the ground up.
Looking ahead, Dr. Vincent Olatunji, National Commissioner and CEO of the NDPC, has announced that compliance audit returns from major data controllers and processors will become a critical benchmark for assessing how responsibly organizations are using AI in their data processing operations across Nigeria.
