Pakistani citizens’ data goes for Rs500 on dark web

WEB DESK: Lawmakers on Friday voiced grave concern over reports that sensitive information of hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis, including applicants for Hajj, had surfaced on the dark web, with personal records being sold for as little as Rs500.

The issue came under sharp focus during a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information Technology, chaired by Palwasha Khan. Officials from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA), the IT ministry and other agencies were summoned to explain the breaches and the status of long-delayed legislation on data protection.

“If our NADRA data has been stolen, it would be a very big disaster,” warned committee member Senator Afnanullah. He disclosed that around 350,000 records were already available on the dark web, including copies of national identity cards, travel histories and details of mobile SIMs.

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“On the dark web, anyone can purchase a person’s complete data for just Rs500,” he said, adding that if the data of 130 million Pakistanis were compromised, “it could generate Rs65 billion.”

The PTA chairman Hafeez ur Rehman noted that the data of Hajj applicants had also been leaked, calling it a “serious matter.” He said the FIA’s National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) had begun an inquiry, but stressed that the question remained how scattered information held by different telecom companies appeared collectively online.

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Committee chair Palwasha Khan castigated the government for failing to introduce a comprehensive data protection law. “Why don’t you bring a data protection bill? We are offering protection to other countries, yet we cannot even secure our own data,” she said. She added that the failure to table the bill amounted to “the ministry’s incompetence.”

Senator Afnanullah told the committee that a draft bill had been prepared and even secured cabinet approval, but had still not reached parliament due to “reservations” within government ranks. “The law that could prevent data theft is simply not being allowed,” he claimed.

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Lawmakers also expressed dismay that the IT minister had skipped the meeting. “The minister does not attend committee sessions,” Khan remarked, though ministry officials insisted she had appeared before several other committees.

Members stressed that the breaches had left citizens exposed to exploitation and targeting. Senator Kamran Murtaza observed: “We assumed the data was in safe hands, but clearly it was not.”

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The committee demanded urgent action, legislative safeguards and greater accountability, warning that failure to secure national databases risked undermining both public trust and national security.