Legal proceedings held Bolt Holdings OU guilty and fined GH₵1.9 million for identity theft.
The Adentan Circuit Court, in a ruling on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, mandated Bolt Holdings OU to compensate Justice Noah Adade with GH₵1.9 million for the unauthorized use of his personal information.
The case, overseen by Judge Sedinam Awo Kwadam, highlighted a concerning incident where Justice Adade’s identity was stolen by his employee, Peter Walker, who deceitfully posed as a Bolt driver using Adade’s details. This breach of privacy led to a legal battle as Justice Adade sought compensation from Bolt Holdings OU, the data processor for Bolt Operations OU. The court found Bolt Holdings OU negligent in failing to verify the true identity of individuals like Walker, thereby violating key provisions of the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843).
“Section 43 (1) of Act 843 entitles the Plaintiff to compensation for D2’s non-compliance with Sections 20, 21, 28 and 30 of Act 843. D2, having been found to have been negligent in its omission of a liveliness identity verification check in its digital identification process for prospective driver Applicants on the Bolt App, is mandated under Section 43(1) of Act 843 to compensate the Plaintiff, and in tort to pay damages to the Plaintiff for its negligence. This Court, in the circumstances, deems it fit, fair and just to award Compensatory Damages.”
“The Court accordingly orders Bolt Holdings OU (D2), being the data processor for Bolt Operations OU, owners of the Bolt platform, to pay Compensatory Damages of 1.9 million Ghana Cedis to the Plaintiff (GHC1.9m),” the court said.
Additionally, Bolt Holdings OU was directed to cover GH₵20,000 in costs, serving as a financial penalty for their oversight.
Moreover, the court’s decision extended beyond mere compensation, as it mandated a forensic audit of Bolt Holdings OU’s systems and database by the Data Protection Commission. This measure aimed to ensure that all drivers registered on the Bolt App underwent a live identity verification check to prevent future incidents of identity theft.
The ruling set a caution for other ride-hailing platforms in Ghana, urging them to prioritize data security and implement similar verification processes to protect their users from malicious exploitation.
