Serious Data Protection Concerns Surface After Lahore Cinema Releases CCTV Footage

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Personal Data Pakistan
Source: Towards Data Science

Recently, Emporium Mall cinema in Lahore leaked explicit footage of couples which was taken via its night vision CCTV cameras. This incident has sparked public outrage over breach of data privacy.

Nighat Dad, a lawyer and digital rights activist, termed the leak of personal footage by the cinema in Lahore as violation of privacy.

“No accountability around how companies, telecom, public bodies, ISPs retain, process or share citizens’ data.”

-Nighat Dad

Do we have laws that protect our private data?

Currently, Pakistan has no law that provides guarantee for the protection of personal data. This means that organizations like the Emporium Cinema can continue to use our data without our consent and can easily get away with it.

Read: What Internet Users Must Not Do In Wake Of A Terrorist Attack

Does our constitution offer any protection?

Our Constitution guarantees privacy of dignity of every man and woman as a fundamental right under Article 14.

But since there is no specific law in Pakistan to protect our personal data, there is not much that Constitution can do.

Personal Data Protection Bill 2018

In 2018, Personal Data Protection Bill 2018 was proposed by the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication.

According to this bill, anyone who processes…disseminates or discloses personal data… will be punished with a fine up to three million rupees.

“Processing of data means collecting, recording, holding or storing personal data…”

-As cited in the draft Bill

Further, chapter two of this bill makes it mandatory for companies to notify customers regarding the processing of their personal data. So, citizens can take legal course in case of a breach of their privacy.

This bill is yet to be passed by the parliament.

Government’s Responsibility

In this technological era where we have to share our personal data such as mobile numbers, residential address, CNIC etc. with corporations almost everyday, and owing to the installation of CCTV cameras at multiple locations across the country, it is the government’s responsibility – now, more than ever before – to ensure that our data is fully protected from any unauthorized access, dissemination or usage.

Unless laws with strict punishments are drafted, citizens will continue to suffer at the hands of companies that control us through our valuable data.

When it comes to evaluating the gravity of the situation, the case of the cinema in Lahore releasing explicit CCTV footage of couples is just the tip of the iceberg.

1 COMMENT

  1. I have a few questions ..
    What qualifies as personal data ?
    What are the rights of a person in terms of privacy?
    And lastly whose property is the CCTV footage on a private property …

    And well another question is where do the laws for obsenity and perversion in a public place fall ?

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