Senators question legality of household data survey in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on IT and Telecom has expressed serious concerns over the collection of citizens’ data in Islamabad through a door-to-door household survey.

The committee meeting, chaired by Senator Palwasha Khan, was held at Parliament Lodges, where several key issues came under discussion, including mobile service shutdowns, mobile internet package prices, and the ongoing household survey in Islamabad, along with matters related to boards of government institutions.

The meeting began with a discussion on mobile network outages in Lakki Marwat district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Senator Atta-ur-Rehman said the government suspends mobile services on the pretext of security threats, but shutting down networks only provides more cover to terrorists. He questioned how an elected representative or citizen could seek help if attacked when mobile services are suspended.

The PTA chairman clarified that decisions to suspend mobile and internet services are taken by the Ministry of Interior and the federal government, while PTA only implements those directives.

Minister of State for IT Shaza Fatima Khawaja said that mobile service suspensions negatively affect economic activity in affected areas, which is why the government tries to keep such restrictions to a minimum.

The committee also discussed rising prices of mobile packages. Shaza Fatima informed members that Pakistan still has some of the cheapest mobile internet rates in the world, and the government plans to auction 5G spectrum within the next two months.

The PTA chairman said the cheapest mobile package currently costs Rs147.

Meanwhile, the committee raised strong objections to the collection of citizens’ data through the household survey being conducted in Islamabad.

The committee chairperson said Pakistan lacks an effective data protection law, and if sensitive information is leaked, it could expose citizens to serious risks.

Senator Afnan Ullah said that NADRA’s data was leaked in the past but no one was held accountable.

The Islamabad deputy commissioner briefed the committee that the survey is being conducted on the prime minister’s directives and data of 32,000 households has been collected so far.

Committee members, however, expressed concern over the lack of satisfactory explanations regarding the legal basis of the survey, data security, and citizens’ privacy.

The meeting also received a briefing on corruption allegations in the NCCIA.

Officials said FIRs had been registered against officers of grades 16 to 18, and Rs425 million had been recovered in one case.

The committee summoned the FIA for the next meeting to present a progress report. Questions were also raised about the boards of PTCL and Ufone, with members pointing out that several government officials serve on multiple boards at the same time and that the appointment criteria lack transparency.

The committee also voiced concerns about the process of forming boards of institutions and SOEs and sought detailed information.