Data protection legislation is now moving from a bill to a gazette, to be issued shortly, following the approval given by the cabinet of ministers. This was consequent to the approval given by the Attorney General to go ahead with the bill, said Jayantha Fernando, General Counsel ICTA (Information and Communication Technology Agency) Sri Lanka. [...]

Business Times

Absence of data protection laws barrier for investment in the country

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Data protection legislation is now moving from a bill to a gazette, to be issued shortly, following the approval given by the cabinet of ministers.

This was consequent to the approval given by the Attorney General to go ahead with the bill, said Jayantha Fernando, General Counsel ICTA (Information and Communication Technology Agency) Sri Lanka. Speaking at a webinar held in Colombo sponsored by the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce on data protection, this week, he said the draft data protection legislation will later be presented in Parliament for approval,

He said with the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic everything is now being done online and data sets of individuals collected by banks, hospitals and government agencies for processing should have clear guidelines for protection of the same.

Citizens both globally and locally and multinationals and institutions have been clamouring for the past several years to ensure the data privacy .The subject became significantly important nearly two years ago when the Ministry responsible for the subject and the ICTA with the Central Bank of Sri Lanka and Securities and Exchange Commission, the Ministry of Media and the Ministry of Justice and other stakeholders were of the view that lack of data protection legislation was a barrier for investment in the country.

This also prevented efforts of potential investors coming into Sri Lanka. However this paved the way for the government and other stakeholders to propose a data protection bill to be submitted to parliament. The bill went through seven stakeholder consultations including with the Bar Association of Sri Lanka and the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce as planned.

Ms. Chiranthi Balapatabendi, Director -Industry Development ICTA, said that ICTA is the apex institution mandated to implement the government’s policies and an action plan in relation to ICTA activities. The overall vision of the ICTA is to make Sri Lanka a digitally inclusive country. The three pillars of the ICTA includes digital government, digital economy and digital services and laws and policies running across all of its three of pillars.

The digital economy strategy is to utilise existing programmes and all relevant partners of eco systems to develop and integrate a digital economic transformation. This includes a higher operational efficiency, lower costs and better outcome and services to its citizens. “The digital transformation is using latest digital technology to do better,” she said, adding: “With the pandemic we are looking at a data-driven economy.” For an industry data protection safeguards valuable information and helps to stay ahead of competition protecting its clients. It prevents hackers from accessing sensitive and vital information.

Ms. Shenuka Jayalath, Manager-Regulatory Group, Legal and Regulatory, Dialog Axita Plc, said data protection helps to enhance the value of companies. Even under existing laws penalties could be imposed on companies for non -compliance. Companies too will have to train their staff for safeguarding private data information as penalties could be imposed for their failure.

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