Lecture on digital footprints: A rights-based perspective

On January 29, 2020, Lex Oration organised an event titled ‘Digital Footprints: A Rights-Based Perspective’ in continuation of their Lecture Series. The lecture was orated by Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed, Honorable Judge, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.

Barrister ABM Hamidul Mishbah delivered the welcome address by shedding light on the importance of the subject matter. ‘Data is the new currency today and we need to be in control of that currency—the data that we create in our daily life,’ he emphasised, ‘the whole world has turned into an information communication system and we need start thinking on this issue now.’

Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed talked about the importance of data which is considered as the new oil in the present era. He illustrated the concept of ‘Data Trinity’ consisting of (i) Data Subject which is the natural person to whom the data relates or who creates the data, (ii) Data Fiduciary who is the controller i.e. the State and (iii) Data Processor who apparently processes such data on behalf of the controlling authority.

In his presentation, he referred to Article 43 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh and Section 26 of the Digital Security Act as relevant legal provisions in data protection in Bangladesh. Furthermore, he placed a comparative analysis between the EU General Data Protection Regulation and (Indian) Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 where he identified the profound distinction on the protection of personal data. He valued the reflection of the fiduciary relationship in the legal instruments over the subject-controller notion.

In the context of the fourth industrial revolution, Justice Dr. Syed Refaat Ahmed focused on the protection deficient system as far as private data is concerned. ‘We are at a profound crossroad, and it is high time to rethink digital protection,’ he noted in the conclusion.

Justice Kashefa Hussain, Honorable Judge, Supreme Court of Bangladesh, and Justice Kazi Zinat Hoque, Honorable Judge, Supreme Court of Bangladesh shared their valuable remarks on the presentation. Barrister Khaled Hamid Chowdhury delivered the vote of thanks recapitulating the key-points of the discussion.

The event covered by Raihan Rahman Rafid, student of Law, University of Dhaka.