The Transparency International Bangladesh and ARTICLE 19 on Sunday demanded the formation of an independent data protection commission to ensure proper enforcement of the Personal Data Protection Act.

The two organisations also urged the government to include some necessary definitions in the draft act so that the fundamental constitutional right to privacy is not undermined.

They came up with the call at a joint press conference on the draft of the Personal Data Protection Act held at the TIB office in Dhaka.

Sheikh Manjur-E-Alam, regional director for Bangladesh and South Asia of ARTICLE 19, in his presentation said that the draft Personal Data Protection Act proposed a government-appointed data protection board which could be biased and unable to hold the government accountable.

Having suggested the formulation of an independent data protection commission,  Manjur-E-Alam said that the commission will be able to foster public trust and ensure effective enforcement of the law.

Manjur urged the government to protect people’s fundamental rights mentioned in the law, while clearly define what personal data will mean under the act. He also urged the authorities to set a timeline for the implementation of the act.

TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman told the press conference expressing concern that though the government is formulating the law to protect personal data, but there is a risk of controlling the personal data.

Society is increasingly coming under the state surveillance with the enactment of new laws, he said.

He further said that as the main objective of the Data Protection Act is to protect the people’s personal information, the law should clearly define what it would mean by human rights, freedom of expression and protection of personal information.

Having mentioned that the draft law has a lack of clarity over the definition of person and personal information, Iftekharuzzaman said that any obscurity in their meanings would create scopes for the authorities to arbitrarily decide upon their meanings.

He also said that currently, several government agencies have been granted unrestricted access to the personal information in the name of national security and public interest, but the judicial system should have a significant role in it because the matter of access to personal information bears risk, he said.

Iterating the demand for an independent personal data protection commission, Iftekharuzzaman said that since the government itself is a user of personal information, a government-controlled board may lead to conflict of interest.