Govt to submit bills on data protection, cybersecurity

Attorney General Ahmed Usham said on Wednesday that his office is preparing to submit two key bills to the Parliament – a data protection bull and a cybersecurity bill.

Usham made the announced during a press briefing in the afternoon, during which he told reporters that the government planned to submit key legislation during the Parliament’s current session.

He said that the data protection bill will be sent to the Parliament within the next “two to three days.”

“As such, we will be submitting the data protection bill to the People’s Majlis within the next two to three days,” he said.

Usham said the main purpose of the legislation is to protect the personal information of citizens, and to ensure personal information is collected, used, stored and shared through a mechanism that is transparent and can be held accountable.

He said that the bill will declare the rights of people to their private information, and the responsibilities of those who process the information.

Usham said the bill was drafted with the full input of all relevant state agencies, and with the assistance of international experts.

Usham added that the government also plans to submit three more bills under the ‘Maldives 2.0’ initiative – the most important of which is a cybersecurity bill. He said that the bill will pave the path to establish a state cybersecurity agency.