Why Pakistan Is Stalling On Data Protection: A Nation's Digital Dilema

• Published date: 10 December 2025
• Subject Matter: Privacy, Data Protection, Privacy Protection
• Law Firm: Yousaf Amanat & Associates
• Author: Yousaf Amanat

Introduction ' the unfulfilled promise of data protection

Despite rapid digitization in Pakistan and frequent data breaches (including leaks of sensitive personal information), the country still lacks an enacted, comprehensive data-protection law. Over the past several years, successive versions of the proposed Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 and earlier drafts (as far back as 2005) have been prepared ' but none has successfully become law.

Observers, activists, and some lawmakers have repeatedly asked: Why the delay, if citizens' privacy and rights are at stake? The answer lies in a tangle of political, economic, institutional and geopolitical considerations.

Driving forces behind reluctance

1. Conflicting state interest: surveillance, control & access to data

One of the chief reasons appears to be that the state itself including powerful institutions has a vested interest in keeping data flows and control largely unchecked. As noted by a detailed 2024 analysis, many previous drafts of the law excluded government agencies and public bodies from the ambit of data protection; in other words, even if the law were passed, state entities handling massive citizen databases (e.g. identity registries) might remain outside its scope.

Moreover, versions of the 2023 bill that attempted to...