Personal Data Bill News Today

Pakistan Press Foundation has documented at least 157 media-related attacks, including 16 instances of arrests, five instances of detention, and 44 cases of assault this year.

With Pakistan expected to hold general elections in January 2024, the need for an open, restriction-free, and safe environment for the media to work in is crucial. Journalists and media professionals in Pakistan must be able to cover the upcoming elections, including the pre-election period, without the fear of backlash in the form of violence

Rules must be defined in such a way that they protect the sanctity of personal data and ensure that the Act is not misused by fiduciaries for any ulterior motive

The urgency to pass the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill is understandable. But its confused positioning on consent to processing personal data, lack of guardrails for non-consensual processing, free hand to use publicly available data despite privacy concerns, and the absence of protections to journalists are glaring misses in the bill

E-Safety bill envisions creation of new regulator to register websites, YouTube channels.

The 2022 Bill is the fourth in a series. Its focus is protecting the government’s interests ― as opposed to protection of the rights of the data subjects.

The Union government has withdrawn the Personal Data Protection Bill after a joint parliamentary panel suggested 81 changes to it.