By Olumide Babalola, PhD
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On the morning of Thursday, 30 April 2026, I came across a letter issued by Olaniwun Ajayi LP in response to a petition concerning the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. What caught my attention, however, was not the substance of the letter, but the NBA digital seal affixed to it.
The transition from a physical stamp to a digital seal is, without question, a welcome development. It reflects innovation, improves efficiency, and aligns with the broader digital transformation agenda of the Nigerian Bar Association. However, when viewed through a privacy and data protection lens, the design and operation of the digital seal portal raise important concerns, particularly around transparency and compliance with privacy by design and default principles.
What is Privacy by Design and Default?
Although not expressly defined in the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023 (NDPA) or its Implementation Directive (GAID), the concepts are well established in global data protection practice. In simple terms, privacy by design means embedding privacy into systems, processes, and products from the outset not adding it later. It requires that privacy considerations are infused into systems from the outset, at the point of conception, but not as an afterthought. On the other hand, privacy by default requires personal data to be automatically protected without any action by the user. It means systems, services, and processes must be configured so that only the minimum necessary personal data is collected, used, and accessible by default.
In essence, systems should be built to anticipate and mitigate privacy risks before they arise, and configured to protect users by default. Regulatorily, articles 26(2), 31(2)(b) and 43(2)(f) of the NDPA-GAID require platform owners to ensure that their portals are designed in accordance with the principle of privacy by design and default. This requires platform builders to always consider privacy and data protection issues at the time of conceptualising and up to the conclusion of the project. This does not appear to be the case with the digital seal portal, as the issues discussed below will show.
Opacity of the Digital Seal Portal
The NBA digital seal portal (digitalseal.nigerianbar.online) functions by requiring users to upload documents before a seal can be affixed. In practice, these documents often contain sensitive and confidential client information. This makes the platform a high-risk data processing environment.
Yet, the portal provides little to no transparency regarding how personal data is handled. There is no visible privacy policy, no disclosure of any third-party processors, no information on the security measures in place to protect the data, and no clarity on how long the data is retained or when it is deleted. This is problematic. Under Section 27 of the NDPA, any entity collecting personal data must provide clear information about its data processing practices at the point of collection.
The absence of such disclosures raises a legitimate concern about whether privacy was meaningfully considered at the design stage of this system? This concern has also been echoed within the profession.
Interestingly, Prof. Damilola Olawuyi, SAN (Chair of NBA Legal Education Committee) advised on the establishment of a technology committee within the NBA to offer clear guidance on the deployment of the digital stamp. In the same vein, Prof. Sam Erugo, SAN notes that the success of the digital seal depends heavily on proper data handling and storage practices. (see https://punchng.com/regulations-important-to-safeguard-nbas-digital-stamp-lawyers/)
Working Around the Privacy Gaps
Despite these concerns, the digital seal system is becoming increasingly central to legal practice. Until the underlying issues are addressed, users may need to adopt practical risk-mitigation strategies:
First, sensitive information should be carefully redacted before any document is uploaded. This includes removing or masking client identifiers, financial details, personal data, and any legally privileged content. Redaction should be done thoroughly to ensure that no hidden metadata or recoverable text remains within the document.
Second, users may consider uploading placeholder or blank documents solely for the purpose of generating the digital seal. Once the seal is obtained, it can then be affixed manually to the actual document using offline tools. This approach avoids exposing confidential material to the platform altogether. Similarly, where complete redaction is not feasible, anonymised versions of documents can be used. By stripping out names, addresses, and other identifying elements, users can significantly reduce the sensitivity of the data being processed while still achieving the desired outcome.
Another effective approach is to apply seals through an offline workflow. Instead of relying entirely on the portal’s processing system, users can download the seal and affix it using local applications such as PDF editors. This ensures greater control over how and where the original document is handled and stored. Finally, users should consider document segmentation, that is, uploading only the specific page or portion of a document that requires the seal, rather than the entire file. This limits unnecessary data exposure and aligns more closely with the principle of data minimisation.
Taken together, these measures do not eliminate the underlying privacy risks, but they provide a practical way for users to mitigate exposure while the broader transparency and compliance issues remain unresolved.
Conclusion
The NBA’s digital seal represents a significant step toward modernising legal practice in Nigeria. However, innovation must not come at the expense of data protection compliance and professional confidentiality. At present, the opacity of the system suggests a gap between technological deployment and privacy governance. Addressing this gap is not optional, it is a regulatory and ethical imperative. If the NBA is to fully realise the benefits of this digital transition, it must ensure that its systems are built not only for efficiency, but also for trust, transparency, and accountability. Until then, the digital seal serves as a timely reminder that, true digital transformation is not just about functionality, it is about responsible design.
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