Data Privacy Practices and Policies for Digital Credit Services

NISER, Nigeria

Research grant 'Data Privacy Practices and Policies for Digital Credit Services in n India and Nigeria', under the auspices of the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA), University of California, Berkeley, aims to provide insights that can influence relevant policies for data privacy among all related stakeholders in Low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and the perceptions, experiences and expectations of digital credit users (DCUs) about data privacy in the two countries. This study, taking place in India and Nigeria simultaneously, will utilize a combination of desk reviews, surveys, and in-depth interviews with key stakeholders to uncover contextual definitions of digital data privacy among all relevant stakeholders, as well as the expectations, perceptions, and experiences of credit users in both countries. An initial desk review will examine each country's legal framework for digital data privacy protection and will be a basis for any relevant policy insights produced later in the project. This phase will also include stakeholder identification and categorization and an analysis of extant literature in the field of digital privacy related to LMICs. The project's second phase will feature surveys undertaken to measure DCUs' perception of data privacy infringement and subjective and financial well-being with standardized scales. In addition to the survey component of the study, researchers will conduct in-depth interviews with a subset of digital credit users, key staff of digital credit providers, and relevant regulators - mainly intended to deepen the understanding of contextual issues in digital data privacy.
Research Team: Prof. Saroj Koul/JGBS (skoul@jgu.edu.in) & Prof. Rakesh Verma, IIM Mumbai.