In an article published on 26 January 2026 in The News Pakistan, LIRNEasia Senior Policy Fellow Muhammad Aslam Hayat highlights how data has become a powerful instrument of governance in Pakistan, yet the frameworks governing data remain fragmented and heavily skewed in favour of state control rather than citizen rights. He stresses that Pakistan does not need more data; it needs better rules to govern it.
Hayat explains that while Pakistan’s public sector holds some of the largest and most sensitive datasets in South Asia, the absence of a comprehensive and enforceable data protection law, weak oversight of how citizens’ personal data circulates across government and private entities, and repeated data breaches leave citizens’ data privacy poorly protected. He further discusses that although the country has formally committed to transparency and access to information, much government-published data is outdated, incomplete, or locked in non-machine-readable formats, while broad legal exceptions and existing laws on surveillance, content restrictions, and data retention compromise accountability and trust in government institutions.
“Data governance is no longer a technical issue; it is a democratic one.
How Pakistan chooses to govern data will shape not only its digital economy, but also the relationship between the state and its citizens. A system built on secrecy, surveillance, and unchecked power may appear efficient in the short term, but it ultimately weakens institutions and public trust.”
To address these challenges, Hayat highlights five urgent steps identified by the “Harnessing Data for Democratic Development in South and Southeast Asia” project, conducted by LIRNEasia, where Aslam serves as the country researcher for Pakistan. These steps aim to restore balance between state power and citizen rights, while promoting economic innovation.
Read the full article in The News Pakistan. This article was also published on Geo News on 26 January 2026.
