Govt seeks consultation on data protection bill

Sun, April 12, 2020

In a press release issued on Friday, the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) said it had formulated a draft ‘Personal Data Protection Bill, 2020’ as privacy of personal data of an individual had become more relevant and important than ever because of the increasing use of ICT (information and communications technology) services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In order to promote a broader collaborative process, the MoITT has placed the draft bill on its website for public opinion. The Ministry of IT and Telecom invites all the stakeholders to share their feedback on the aforesaid bill for further enhancements,” it said.

The bill is available to download from the IT ministry’s official website. According to details on the website, the stakeholders can share their feedback via email at info@moitt.gov.pk before May 15.

The bill was drafted by officials of the ministry on direction of the Secretary Information Technology Shoaib Ahmad Siddiqui. “Data, technology and accessibility have become more important in day-to-day personal and business activities,” Siddiqui said, adding that privacy of personal data has become even more relevant and important than ever before because of the increasing use of IT services in the current pandemic.

According to the ‘statement of objects’ of the draft, digitization of businesses and various public services employing modern computing technologies involve processing of personal data and the growth of technological advancements have not only made it easier to collect personal data but also enabled processing of personal data in so many ways that were not possible in the past.

“In order to realize the goal of full scale adoption of e-government and delivery of services to the people at their doorsteps, and increase users’ confidence in the confidentiality and integrity of government databases, it is essential that the users’ data is fully protected from any unauthorized access or usage and remedies are provided to them against any misuse of their personal data.”

Additionally, it said, accelerated increase in the use of broadband with the advent of 3G/4G in Pakistan led to an increasingly enhanced reliance on technology calling for the protection of people’s data against any misuse, thus maintaining their confidence in the use of new technologies without any fear.

Frameworks that provide for data protection already exist in Pakistan and the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (Peca) specifically deals with the crimes relating to unauthorized access to data.

However, it read: “there is a need for putting in place a comprehensive legal framework in line with our Constitution and international best practices for personal data protection.”

The proposed law would provide legal certainty to the businesses and public functionaries with regard to the processing of personal data in their activities.

In addition, the desired legal framework would clearly spell out the responsibilities of the data collectors and processors as well as rights and privileges of the data subjects along with institutional provisions for the regulation of activities relating to the collections, storing, processing and usage of personal data.

Peace & Justice Netork (PJN) is currently in a process of reviewing draft bill and will share its detail response to MoITT. 

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