The Right to Privacy & Personal Data Protection: An Analysis of Pakistan’s Proposed Personal Data Protection Bill

Abstract

The fundamental idea of personal data protection is to ensure that individuals (formally known as ‘data subjects’) have control over the collection, use and inferences made from their personal data. It is, therefore, imperative to grant effective knowledge and control to the data subject since [digital] data collection is prevalent in virtually every e-service or digital platform. As a result, user data has become more vulnerable than ever. To overcome exposure issues created by personal data breaches, various jurisdictions have implemented laws that provide for the rules with which personal data is to be collected, processed and disseminated. Following suit, the Government of Pakistan has taken the initiative to protect the privacy and personal data of every citizen through the [prospective] promulgation of the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2021. This is no doubt a pertinent step towards a better and digitally-secure future for Pakistan. However, although the Bill purports to be a sui generis solution to all matters pertaining to personal data protection, it appears to be ineffective in upholding the fundamental principles which are derived from international best practices. This paper studies the philosophical basis for the right to privacy to be expanded to cover the requirements of the digital age, aligned with the use-case scenarios which have emerged after the concept of the right to privacy was initially posited. The Bill is then juxtaposed against international best-practices and analysed as to the efficacy of the implementation of the principles of personal data protection. In conclusion, recommendations for amending the Bill are posited.