A man has filed a Sh115 trillion case against Safaricom for an alleged data breach
The petitioner, Benedict Kabugi, has accused the mobile service provider of what he terms a violation of the data privacy of millions of customers from different parts of the country.
In the suit, which he filed at the High Court last week, the man has faulted the service provider for exposing the betting history of gamblers. The man said that more than 11.5 million Safaricom subscribers had their data exposed.
“The data, which the petitioner herein viewed personally, was specific to gamblers who had used their Safaricom mobile numbers to gamble on various betting platforms registered in Kenya,” says Benedict in his petition.
The suit is likely to be a big blow to the company if the court grants the petitioner the said amount of money.
According to the data protection law, mobile service providers are expected to ensure the information of customers is private at all times.
Sports betting has become popular in the country. Millions of youths as well as adults have been engaging in betting. The government has increased the tax on betting in a move geared towards ending gambling addiction.
This is not the first time a lawsuit of such magnitude has been presented in court.