Senate body informed: Global firms wary of investing in country due to absence of data protection law

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication was informed on Wednesday that in the absence of a Personal Data Protection law, international companies and potential investors are reluctant to come to Pakistan.

The committee met with Naseema Ehsan in the chair on Wednesday in the absence of Senator Kauda Babar who is the chairman of the committee.

Senator Dr Afnan Ullah Khan, who introduced The Data Protection Bill 2023 in the Senate on February 13, 2023, said that in the absence of Data Protection law, data get leaked from organisations such as Nadra and banks. This is one of the reasons that international companies are reluctant to come to Pakistan, as they want to host data in the United States.

India has already a Data Protection law and is further improving it. Under the proposed legislation, National Data Protection Commission would be set up, said Khan, adding that emergency measures have been proposed in the legislation.

Senator Shahdat Awan said the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication has also drafted the same legislation and needs to review and avoid duplication.

He further objected that the bill proposed by Khan lacked a preamble which is required for any bill. He further said that there is a need for input from the IT Ministry to avoid something new to happen.

The chairperson objected that the bill drafted by the IT Ministry is yet to be laid in the House, how can they take it. Khan said that there is a need for ownership. He talked to the IT minister who fully supported his bill.

Senator Rubina Khalid said that only a bill is not a solution unless it is implemented. We have a Cybercrime bill but have yet to implement it. It is yet to be determined how to punish someone under Cyber law. She said only blocking accounts is not enough as they open new accounts.

The IT Ministry informed that Asia Internet Coalition and Amazon have submitted their input on the Data Protection Bill which would be reviewed.

Senator Sania Nishtar objected that Amazon is a commercial entity, and how its input would be incorporated. Legislation is a sensitive matter, she added.

Later, it was decided to meet after one week to review both bills and reach some conclusion.

Discussing questions related to year-wise detail of total funds available and spent by the USF, the committee probed the reasons for non-connectivity in Balochistan. The committee was informed that 40 percent of the USF’s total strength is focused on Balochistan. However, due to being sparsely populated ensuring cent percent connectivity, especially that is 4G related, is impossible.

The committee was informed the USF is working to formulate a regulatory framework for Balochistan. Citing security concerns in the province a major impediment. Projects had to be stalled in Kech, Panjgur, and Turbat due to security concerns, it added. The PTA was summoned to the next meeting for providing details about the non-availability of telecom services.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023