Bolt ordered to pay GH₵1.9m damages over data breach

A Ghanaian court has ruled in favor of Justice Noah Adade, ordering Bolt Holdings OU to pay GH₵1.9 million in damages for a data breach that led to identity theft.

Justice Adade discovered his personal information was being used by an impersonator on the Bolt ride-hailing platform in August 2022.

The impersonator, Peter Walker, was his employee who had registered as a driver using Adade's stolen identity.

Despite initial attempts to seek compensation, Bolt Holdings OU refused, prompting Adade to take legal action.

The Adentan Circuit Court, presided over by Judge Sedinam Awo Kwadam, found Bolt liable for negligence in verifying Walker's identity.

The court cited violations of the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) and ordered Bolt to pay GH₵1.9 million in compensatory damages and GH₵20,000 in costs. Bolt Ghana Limited was cleared of liability.

“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.