STAFF CORRESPONDENT

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has expressed deep concern and disappointment over the government’s hurried approval of the Personal Data Protection Ordinance 2025 and the National Data Governance Ordinance 2025 without adequate expert consultation or stakeholder engagement.

In a statement issued yesterday, TIB called on the government to suspend both ordinances and proceed only after ensuring meaningful participation from stakeholders and incorporating expert opinions.

TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the draft data protection law had long been a matter of contention between stakeholders and the former authoritarian government before its fall. “After assuming office, the interim government initially took an inclusive and participatory approach that led to several positive changes. However, it is reprehensible that the government has ignored stakeholders’ recommendations on critical weaknesses and risks and approved the latest draft in secrecy,” he said.

Dr Iftekharuzzaman noted that the approved draft excluded key international data protection principles such as lawfulness, fairness, transparency, purpose limitation, data minimisation, accuracy, integrity, confidentiality, and accountability, making the ordinance “crippled and ineffective from the outset.”

SEE PAGE 8 COL 4