Raza Rabbani says NCCIA 'probably lead to increased surveillance, data collection'

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) senior leader Mian Raza Rabbani on Monday said that the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), with its “broad and unclear mandate”, would probably encroach on the personal liberties of the citizens.

Last week, the Federal Investigation Agency’s (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing stood defunct as the federal government established the NCCIA to probe electronic crimes.

The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunication had issued an official notification for the abolition of the FIA’s cybercrime wing, saying that the government took the decision in the exercise of powers conferred by section 51 read with section 29 of the Prevention of Electronic Crime Act, 2016.

In a statement, PPP leader Rabbani said: “The NCCIA, with its broad and unclear mandate, will probably lead to increased surveillance and data collection, encroaching upon personal liberties of the citizen.”

He said: “Like a thunderbolt, the government has created the NCCIA, this is condemned.”

The former Senate chairman said that the NCCIA had been created at a time when digital rights and privacy remained key issues for the state to address.

“The body has been created without taking into confidence digital rights groups, the IT sector or even the public,” the seasoned politician expressed concerns over the government’s move.

He further said that even after almost a week of its creation, the government had failed to take the people into confidence as to what the NCCIA would be able to achieve that the FIA could not.

Rabbani urged the government to make a public explanation of the need to create the NCCIA and reassure them that this was not a policing of social media.