Bangladesh has passed its first-ever Data Protection Act, aimed at securing private data—particularly biometric and health records—collected through digital services like e-governance, mobile banking, and telemedicine.
The law requires firms to obtain explicit user consent before collecting sensitive data and mandates data audits by independent authorities. Violators may face fines up to 10% of annual turnover.
With data protection gaining thrust in India under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, governments in Nepal and Bhutan are also preparing draft frameworks to match regional norms.
