Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, LinkedIn Send Suggestions to MoITT on Data Bill

The Ministry of IT and Telecommunication sought input from all local and international stakeholders on the Personal Data Protection Bill.

Sources in the Ministry of IT and Telecommunication told ProPakistani that the ministry had approached the local and international stakeholders on the Personal Data Protection Bill and it has received input from all stakeholders including tech and business giants like Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft, and LinkedIn in addition to the US Chamber of Commerce and European Union.

According to a MoITT Official, point by point review of the bill is being done after receiving inputs from all stakeholders. The bill will be sent to the Law Ministry after including valuable suggestions. The Data Protection Bill will be sent to the Federal Cabinet after vetting from the Law Division. The Bill will be tabled in the Parliament after approval from the Federal Cabinet.

This bill will apply to individuals and organizations that collect, control and process the data. The bill proposes penalties in case of a data breach. That’s why the current government is very cautious about this bill and revision of the bill is being done on the recommendations of the government, the official added.

The Federal Cabinet under the chair of former Prime Minister Imran Khan approved the Personal Data Protection Bill 2021 in February 2022 but it was not tabled in the National Assembly for debate and approval.

The Personal Data Protection Bill has been pending for the last four years. The MoITT prepared the first draft of the bill in 2018, and a new draft was introduced in 2020 with some changes. Later on, this draft was changed to the ‘Personal Data Protection Bill Consultation Draft 2021’.