The government has decided to make further amendments to the draft of the Personal Data Protection Bill, in the aftermath of the May 9 incident to make it more comprehensive with respect to National Security.

The decision was taken in the last Federal Cabinet meeting which met with Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif in the chair. The meeting deliberated on evolving security challenges faced by the country.

The decision was conveyed to the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication (MoITandT). This was revealed before the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology and Telecommunication met with Kauda Babar in the chair here on Friday.

Considering ‘The Personal Data Protection Act, 2023’, the Ministry revealed that points of Cabinet are yet to be shared, but it would be good to defer the discussion on the proposed legislation. International focus is also on this Bill, an official informed the committee.

The Senate panel was cognizant of MoITandT’s remarks and directed the authority to present the bill before the committee within 15 days.

Pertinently, the bill was almost finalized and was about to be presented for implementation before the federal cabinet’s decision to revamp it.

Telecom

Separately, the committee recommended the opening of letters of credit (LCs) for the telecom sector after Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) officials blamed excessive taxes and embargoes on telecom equipment harming companies operating in the sector.

Members also summoned officials State Bank of Pakistan and the Federal Board of Revenue to the next meeting. They also urged mobile phone operators to participate in the upcoming meeting to deliberate efforts on the establishment of a framework for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the telecom industry.

Source: Pro Pakistani