Bill to centralise citizen’s data tabled in the National Assembly

The government of Pakistan has proposed the “Digital Nation Pakistan Bill, 2024”, to centralise the data of Pakistani citizens, into a unified “digital ID”, introducing the bill in the National Assembly. Tabled by the Minister of State for  IT and Telecom Shaza Khawaja, the bill also establishes two agencies as part of the data centralisation drive: the National Digital Commission (NDC), and the Pakistan Digital Authority (PDA).

The NDC – headed by the Prime Minister, chief ministers and heads of government departments – would be tasked with developing the “required policy, provide governance and ensure necessary coordination amongst federal, provincial, and sectoral bodies” in regards to the data of citizens. The PDA, according to the report, would be led by “top industry experts”, and “would develop, implement, monitor and periodically update the national digital masterplan, including sectoral plans and implementation plans, to ensure alignment with the strategic guidelines of the NDC.” News reports pertaining to the bill and the agencies that it creates, however, do not go into details as to how the data centralisation would take place. The reports do not discuss the safety of that data, or the privacy of citizens – not just in terms of the right to privacy, but a matter of concern given that the data of at least 2.7 million Pakistanis stored with NADRA had been leaked over a five year period.