Protection of Digital Privacy under the Constitution: A Comparative Analysis of the EU, US and Pakistan

Abstract

The intensive promotion of digital technologies has changed the character of the personal information, creating the essential doubts regarding the constitutional protection of privacy. In this paper, a critical analysis of the legal and constitutional provisions of Pakistan on digital privacy is presented by taking it in the context of the European Union and the United States. Although the Constitution of Pakistan acknowledges privacy as a fundamental right, the legal provisions, including the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA 2016), the newest one and the proposed Personal Data Protection Bill are still divided and reactive. Through the comparison of the rights-based policy of the EU and the judicially adaptive model of the US the paper is able to determine the gaps and challenges that are entailed in the Pakistani framework that include, among others, the limited judicial interpretation, insufficient institutional capacity and poor public awareness. The research makes policy and legal suggestions on how Pakistan can enhance its digital privacy protection by focusing on the necessity of constitutional clarity, strong laws and independent supervision and participation of citizens. Finally, this paper proposes that proper safeguarding of digital privacy is necessary in order to protect human dignity, informational autonomy and democratic governance in the digital era.