Carriers’ storing personal data illegal
The telecom regulator's directive to mobile operators to store citizens' personal data violates the constitution, and therefore, the decision should be revoked, speakers said at a programme yesterday.
The security of citizens' information is enshrined in the constitution. It is a suicidal decision to hand over the information of citizens to the private sector, said Ruhin Hossain Prince, general secretary of the Bangladesh Communist Party.
"I hope the government will back down from this decision. And we demand that the government should recognise the rights granted to citizens by the section 43 (b) of the constitution."
He was speaking at a press conference titled "Protest against the decision to hand over databases of citizen personal information to private organisations" arranged by the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Users Association at a hotel in the capital yesterday.
The press conference comes as the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) ordered the mobile operators to store 12 types of citizen data.
The types of data include name, parents' names, current and permanent address and picture, occupations etc.
However, the mobile operators are showing reluctance to do that, sensing the sensitivity of the data ordered to be stored.
The Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh have sent multiple letters to the commission saying that the mobile operators are not authorised by any legislation to create a centralised database.
"If the BTRC does such a task that violates the constitution, it has to face trials in future," Prince added.
Tanvir Hasan Zoha, a top cyber security specialist, said there is no precedent in any country in the world for personal information of citizens to be stored by the private sector.
This will risk the security of citizens' money, land, and resources, he added.
Supreme Court lawyer Ishrat Hasan said, "According to courts, the constitution, and international human rights, there is no opportunity to hand over the personal data of citizens to the private sector."
Mohiuddin Ahmed, president of the Bangladesh Mobile Phone Users' Association, said, "We also discovered that a private organisation has filed a writ petition with the High Court to prevent the private sector from building citizen databases. We hope that the court will safeguard citizens' information."
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