Data protection during the Covid-19 pandemic has become a budding issue in Pakistan.
Data protection during the Covid-19 pandemic has become a budding issue in Pakistan. There was examined a host of potential privacy concerns related to the country’s newly launched Covid-19 tracking technology, including the government’s use of a system basically created to counteract terrorism.
Some authorities are also making use of a national biometric data center that has, in the past, been subject to several major digital contravention.
Digital rights experts also claimed that the data collected from millions of Pakistanis was not securely protected. Few days ago the personal details of thousands of Covid-19 volunteers was leaked online.
One month after that, many more similar concerns remain unaddressed. “Unfortunately, given the lack of data protection laws and in the absence of a privacy commission, there has been no investigation into these leaks,” says Director of the Digital Rights Foundation.
There have not been any reported cases of harassment or individuals being targeted, but experience tells us that data leaks often lead to private companies using leaked personal data for profit through targeted advertisements and selling that data to others.
One has seen no measures taken on their end that would boost their confidence in the retention and processing of personal data, the level of intrusiveness the state seems to exert in man’s lives.
With the pandemic in Pakistan in early May, the country had reported nearly 15,000 cases of Corona virus and at least 32 deaths. The current figures now stand at 82,000 confirmed cases and 1,717 deaths.