Bill to ensure security of personal data collected by institutions

The Government has gazetted a Personal Data Protection Bill aimed at ensuring the security of personal data collected by institutions such as state bodies, banks, telecommunication service providers and hospitals.

The gazette has been issued by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa in his capacity as the Minister of Technology prior to the bill being tabled in Parliament. The move is also aimed at developing the country's digital economy.

Several obligations will be imposed by this legislation on “controllers” and “processors” -- those who collect and process personal data -- and a whole new set of statutory rights have been given to natural persons/individuals (known as “data subjects”). The bill describes these rights as the “rights of data subjects”.