Privacy as a Human Right in the Digital Age: In Quest of a Safer Protection Regime in Bangladesh

Abstract

Although the privacy jurisprudence has reached into an intense debate on to which extent the right to privacy should be allowed in this digital age in the reality of terrorism, newly evolved crimes and ever-evolving national security concerns, Bangladesh is still in its infancy in dealing with right to privacy and its related issues. The privacy provisions in Bangladesh Constitution and a few other statutory laws are quite scattered, insufficient to combat the emerging challenges posed in this digital age. Globally, the idea of privacy and data protection have been placed in important instruments like UDHR, ECHR and ICCPR with almost identical understanding as to privacy as a human right. Moreover, OECD Directives of Data Protection, 1980 as updated in 2013, EU General Data Protection Regulation, 2018 and the Data Protection Act, 2018 of the UK have advanced the privacy understanding to a new level. The courts in many jurisdictions including USA, UK, EU and India have laid down few notable principles on this very issue. In this article, after analyzing the best practices around the world, a critical examination of current privacy and data protection provisions of Bangladesh will be placed. The article offers some suggestions on how Bangladesh can combat the emerging privacy and data protection challenges and specific vulnerabilities in this digital age.