Digital money lender remanded over Shs60,000 loan
The court heard that this came after Wonambwa applied for a Shs60,000 loan via the Quickloan digital lending app, operated by Nano Loans Microfinance Ltd.
What you need to know:
- Upon the loan's due date, the company’s agent sent the victim a WhatsApp message containing a video recording displaying his name, telephone number, and photograph, accompanied by a threat to upload it to TikTok if the loan was not repaid.
The director of Nano Loans Microfinance Ltd has been remanded to prison after he was arraigned at the Makindye Standards, Wildlife and Utilities Court for allegedly failing to register with the Personal Data Protection Office (PDPO) and processing personal data without consent.
Ronald Mugulusi who was on Friday, April 25, 2025, charged under the Data Protection and Privacy Act, Cap. 97 and its Regulations pleaded not guilty to both charges and was remanded until April 30, 2025, pending hearing of his bail application.
It is alleged that between 2023 and 2025, Mugulusi and others still at large collected and processed Mr Micheal Wonambwa’s data, including his name, telephone number, and facial photograph, while operating digital money lending services without registering with the PDPO, as required by Section 29 of the Data Protection and Privacy Act and Regulation 15(1) (3)(4) of the 2021 Regulations.
It is further alleged that in July 2024, the company unlawfully processed the same personal data through a video recording without the victim’s consent, in violation of Section 7(1) of the Act and Regulation 34 of the Regulations.
The court heard that this came after Wonambwa applied for a Shs60,000 loan via the Quickloan digital lending app, operated by Nano Loans Microfinance Ltd.
Court documents seen by this reporter indicate that after deductions for processing fees were complete, only Shs34,800 was disbursed to Wonambwa. Upon the loan's due date, the company’s agent sent the victim a WhatsApp message containing a video recording displaying his name, telephone number, and photograph, accompanied by a threat to upload it to TikTok if the loan was not repaid.
Wonambwa reported the incident the case to the Personal Data Protection Office, which, together with the Criminal Investigations Directorate (CID), initiated investigations and established that Quickloan is operated by Nano Loans Microfinance Ltd, which is not registered with the PDPO, despite being a data collector and processor as defined by the law. The personal data in the video recording was processed without the victim’s consent.
Experts say the case sheds light on “borrower-shaming” tactics used by digital lending apps in a bid to publicly expose borrowers to force loan repayment. It also highlights a new privacy twist: the borrower did share his details to get the loan, but a company can’t reuse that data for a different purpose, like a humiliation video, which is not a valid legal justification as per the principles of the Data Protection and Privacy Act, Cap 97.”
The Personal Data Protection Office (PDPO) is Uganda’s independent data protection and privacy regulator responsible for overseeing the implementation and enforcement of the Data Protection and Privacy Act Cap 97 and its Regulations through effective regulation and monitoring of the collection and processing of personal data in Uganda.
