Global digital media behemoths that make up the Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) questioned the “Pakistan Draught Data Protection Bill 2023” on a number of points, claiming that it does not address the majority of the sector’s important worries, including strict restrictions on cross-border data flow and mandatory data localization.
It will be challenging for foreign internet enterprises to operate in Pakistan and conduct trade with it under the Bill’s current framework, which will obstruct the country’s economic recovery and deter foreign investment.
In a letter to Amin ul Haque, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication, Jeff Paine, Managing Director (MD) AIC, warned that local Pakistani businesses might lose access to affordable global cloud services, which would make them less competitive as they would have to pay significant operating and maintenance expenses for their servers.
According to the MD, the AIC and its members are submitting their comments on the draught personal data protection bill 2023 that the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) issued on May 19, 2023.
Important Concerns:
The most recent version of the Personal Data Protection Bill 2023 (the Bill), which was published in May 2023, has four major problems:1- The Bill requires that sensitive personal information must only be processed within Pakistan (the “Data Localization Requirement”), and it defines “sensitive personal information” in such a way that it may have a detrimental effect on private businesses.
2- The Bill establishes a necessity for sharing delicate personal information with the government;
3- The age of a kid as defined by the Bill should be thirteen, not eighteen.
4- For violations of the Bill, there need to be a predetermined maximum fine.
The protection of personal data must be a part of any privacy framework, he asserted, and they are appreciative of the opportunity to comment on the draught legislation. National laws and policies governing the protection of personal data have been developed via close cooperation between AIC and its members and governments from around the world.
AIC asked for a meeting with the industry to better understand the priorities and points of view related to the Bill. In order to help the Government’s evaluation of the Personal Data Protection Bill 2023, we also propose to talk about possible areas for collaboration and engagement. As a result, we are open to have a video conference meeting with you or your team at a time and date that work for you, the letter stated.