Section 10 of the new draft states that data may be collected in accordance with the method provided by the data producer for the purpose of protecting national security and preventing, detecting or investigating any crime.
Article 33 exempts from the law the collection of data for the purpose of preventing crime. The draft also states that the government will issue a notice regarding the degree of exemption.
Commenting on this, Iftikharuzzaman said that this may create scope for misuse of data by those who have been given this exemption. This is a matter of concern for the common citizens.
Under the Data Protection Act, a board constituted by the government can provide written orders to the data custodian or data processor and they are bound to comply. And they are also obliged to provide the necessary data ordered.
The draft states that data declared by the government as ‘classified’ must be kept within Bangladesh.
Saimm Reza Talukdar, senior lecturer in the Department of Law at BRAC University, told Prothom Alo that if there was a provision for permission from the judiciary in Bangladesh to hold classified data, people’s rights would be better protected.
He also said that more details need to be given about the areas where more relaxation is to be given. He said that if the scope of accountability is further expanded along with the clause of approval from the judiciary, then the possibility of misuse will be reduced.
