Impacts of data localization policies and lessons for Bangladesh
Md. Toriqul Islam, Borhan Uddin Khan · International Data Privacy Law · 2024
The emergence of digital technologies, especially the Internet, has led to a significant increase in digital data covering all aspects of human life. The expansion of digital data entails enormous benefits but raises serious concerns about data privacy, data security, and data protection. In response to these challenges, some governments attempt to implement data localization policies, which restrict data transfer to particular countries, regions, or territorial jurisdictions. The rationales behind the implementation of these policies are often rooted in the belief that they would ensure the preservation of national sovereignty, security, public interest, and data protection.1 This stance reflects concerns surrounding US-led surveillance programmes implemented globally. Growing anxieties about potential US government access to user data through major tech companies like Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, and Yahoo have led to scepticism among some foreign governments. This concern has eroded trust in the services provided by these companies, prompting some foreign leaders to re-evaluate their reliance on them. In 2013, a Guardian report demonstrated that the National Security Agency (NSA) of the USA and the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) of the UK, along with their foreign allies, continuously monitored people’s data under the guise of law enforcement.2 In 2015, Amnesty International and Privacy International compiled a list of 10 surveillance programmes led by the USA and its allies, which constantly monitored people around the world and processed data about them.3 Even though governments worldwide increasingly block cyberspace over concerns about privacy, data security, effective surveillance operations, and domestic law enforcement grounds, this approach does not effectively safeguard data privacy and security.