Asia Internet Coalition Raises Concerns Over Pakistan’s Data Protection Bill

The Asia Internet Coalition (AIC) including global digital media giants raised several questions on “Pakistan’s first-ever Data Protection Bill 2023”. AIC claimed that the new bill does not address a majority of the industry’s substantive concerns.

“In its current form, the Bill will have a negative impact on the ability of foreign internet companies to trade with and operate in Pakistan, hindering the country’s economic recovery and deterring foreign investment. Local Pakistani companies may lose access to cost-efficient global cloud services making them less competitive as they incur substantial costs to operate and maintain servers”, said Jeff Paine Managing Director (MD) AIC in a letter addressed to Amin ul Haque, Federal Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication.

Asia Internet Coalition Raises Concerns Over Pakistan’s First-Ever Data Protection Bill

The MD stated that on behalf of AIC and its members, they are submitting their recommendations on the Draft Personal Data Protection Bill 2023. The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITT) published the bill on 19 May 2023.

Key Issues Raised:

There are four key issues with the latest Draft Personal Data Protection Bill 2023, released in May 2023 (the Bill):

• The Bill mandates that critical personal data must only be processed in Pakistan (the Data Localisation requirement)
• Definition of critical personal data should be broadly defined such that it may negatively impact private companies;
• The Bill introduces a requirement to share sensitive personal data with the Government;
• The age of a child under the Bill should be thirteen, not eighteen;
• There should be a set maximum fine payable for breaches of the Bill.

He further stated that the protection of personal data is an important component of any privacy framework. They also appreciate the opportunity to provide feedback on the Draft Bill.

AIC requested an industry meeting to better understand the views and priorities checking from the Bill. “We also propose to discuss potential areas of collaboration as well as opportunities for consultation that can further assist the Government’s review of the Personal Data Protection Bill 2023. As such, we welcome a video conference meeting with you or your team at a date and time of your convenience”, the letter noted.

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