Ghana’s Data Protection Commission has cautioned Ghanaians against the upsurge of unlicensed online loan schemes in the country.
According to the commission, such schemes are operating contrary to provisions of the Data Protection Commission’s Act 2012 Act 843, to protect users from unnecessary disclosures of their private information.
They include Loan Pro, Akwaaba Cash, Kudicredit, Ultra loans, Cedi story, Boseafie, Loan Galaxy, ProKCash, Mom Cash and Sika Dua, Easy Loan among others.
In a statement, the commission called on the Bank of Ghana to act swiftly to halt the activities of such loan schemes.
“Digital loan services have become an increasingly easy-to-go-to avenue for people to access credit, as many are unable or ineligible to secure loans through traditional providers such as the banks. But in recent times, the Data Protection Commission has received tons of complaints regarding the harassment and debt shaming approaches these online digital loan services are using to deal with defaulters,” the statement said.
“Our background checks have established that these online loan applications are unlicensed and therefore have no authorization to operate.”
“The Data Protection Commission has continued to receive several complaints that clearly describe the commotion these apps have caused the country. We have also assessed a few privacy notices of these apps which complicate their mode of operation as they do not show any accountability to their clients in terms of how their data is going to be used in actual fact,” the statement added.
