Nigerians who do not use Truecaller can request that their phone numbers be removed from the platform’s searchable database, the company says, following a recent privacy dispute before the Lagos State High Court.
The development comes after a case brought by the Incorporated Trustees of the Data Privacy Lawyers Association of Nigeria on behalf of non-users whose telephone numbers were allegedly processed by Truecaller. The applicants argued that people who had never registered for the service should not have their numbers collected or made searchable based on consent provided by someone else.
The case highlighted a central question for digital privacy: can one person’s permission extend to the personal information of another person stored in their phone contacts?
In its September 14, 2026 judgment, the Lagos State High Court rejected the argument that a Truecaller user’s consent automatically amounts to consent from non-users whose numbers appear in that user’s contact list. The court also recognised that privacy protections under Nigeria’s Constitution extend to personal information and personal data.
However, the ruling did not result in the broad orders sought by the applicants. Reports on the judgment indicate that the court dismissed the application after finding that the applicants had not established a fundamental-rights violation warranting the requested reliefs. The court also did not award damages.
Truecaller has nevertheless pointed users towards its existing unlisting mechanism. According to the company, people who do not use the service can request that their contact information be excluded from further searches. Its Nigerian privacy policy also provides for non-users to submit an unlisting request through the company’s website.
For people concerned about their privacy, this distinction is important. Removing a number from searchable results does not necessarily mean that every technical record associated with it disappears immediately. Truecaller says requests may involve processing information needed to honour and track the unlisting request.
The company’s existing support documentation also says users can deactivate their accounts and unlist their numbers, with removal potentially taking up to 24 hours because of caching.
The controversy is part of a wider conversation about how digital platforms obtain and use address-book information. Caller-identification services depend on large databases of telephone numbers, names and related information to identify unknown callers and detect spam. Truecaller says these functions contribute to protecting users from scams, fraud and harassment.
At the same time, the Nigerian case demonstrates why data protection becomes complicated when information belonging to non-users enters a platform through another person’s device.
For Nigeria’s growing digital economy, the dispute could have implications beyond caller-ID applications. Companies that rely on contact lists, referrals, social graphs or other user-generated data may face increasing scrutiny over whether access to information also provides a lawful basis for processing it.
The Truecaller case therefore places a sharper focus on an increasingly important principle: being listed in someone’s phone does not necessarily mean surrendering control over that information. For Nigerians who want their numbers removed from Truecaller searches, the company says an unlisting option is available.
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