Islamabad: The federal government recently announced its decision to form a Data Protection Authority for protecting the personal information of citizens and curbing its misuse, a news source reported. As per the publication, the Ministry of Information Technology & Telecommunication has already drafted the Personal Data Protection Bill 2020 for this purpose.
The ministry has placed the drafted bill on its website for
public opinion. It proposes a fine of up to PKR 25 million on individuals who
process, cause to be processed, disclose or disseminate personal or sensitive
information in violation of the provisions of the drafted legislation.
According to the drafted bill, the Data Protection Authority
would govern the collection, use, processing, and disclosure of personal data.
It will also establish and make provisions regarding offenses pertaining to violation
of personal data while collecting, obtaining, and processing of personal
information through any means.
The bill proposes that no data collector will process personal information without the prior consent of the data subject. In case this data is transferred to another system beyond the territories of Pakistan, then it must be ensured that the destination country provides personal data protection at least equivalent to the proposed act. Wherever applicable, the data must be processed in accordance with the new act under consent of the data subject.
The proposed bill adds that only a server or data centre
located in Pakistan will process all critical personal data. Within six months
of the proposed act coming into force, the government will from the Personal
Data Protection Authority of Pakistan, which will be entrusted with carrying
out the measures highlighted in the aforementioned bill.
