Bolt Ghana has been ordered to pay GH¢1.9 million in compensation to Justice Noah Adade, a lecturer and software solutions CEO, for failing to detect the theft of his identity, which was used by one of its drivers. The Adentan Circuit Court ruled in Adade’s favor after he sued the ride-hailing company for negligence under the Data Protection Act.
Adade filed the GH¢2 million lawsuit, stating that Bolt had breached data protection laws by allowing his personal information to be used without verification. He cited an incident in August 2022, when he discovered his name and image being used as the driver’s profile during a ride he booked on the platform.
Despite Bolt’s claim that their systems were secure, the court agreed that the company had failed in its duty of care by not verifying the driver’s identity properly. The court ordered Bolt to remove Adade’s personal data from its system and compensate him for the damages caused.
We shouldn’t forget about the importance of verifying personal data, particularly in services involving public interactions like ride-hailing platforms.