Constitutional Right to Privacy and Data Protection in Bangladesh: A Living Originalist Interpretation

Abstract

This thesis aims to assess the place of data protection within the constitutional framework of the right to privacy in Bangladesh. In contemporary society, privacy has transformed in response to technological advancements. The rapid growth of information and communication technologies presents enormous challenges. This prompts the question of whether the constitutional framework surrounding privacy should adapt to safeguard individuals' rights effectively. This endeavour encounters challenges due to the absence of explicit references to data protection in the Constitution of Bangladesh and the relatively underdeveloped theoretical framework of the right to privacy, especially in response to the rapid advancement of technology. Personal data is being generated, stored, analysed, and shared in more significant numbers than ever before, facilitated by the invention of the World Wide Web, increased processing power, and new communication tools. As technology advances, along with the importance of information communication in society, unique challenges are soaring primarily related to protecting individuals' personal information. The chosen thesis methodology involves applying the constitutional interpretation method known as living originalism, utilising a comparative constitutional law approach. This approach addresses the conceptual ambiguity surrounding the definition of the right to privacy and explores how data protection can be integrated into this constitutional context. In today's digital era, data protection is critical to safeguard human dignity and autonomy, which are fundamental prerequisites for preserving privacy. Although privacy and data protection are interconnected, they are not identical. Drawing insights from international best practices in privacy and data protection, the argument is that a fresh interpretation of the constitutional right to privacy is essential to safeguard individuals' rights effectively. Rigid textual interpretation suggests the non existence of the constitutional right to data protection. This reinterpretation should consider the evolving data protection landscape and its significance in contemporary society. In conclusion, the research proposes an approach that emphasises the fundamental aspect of data protection within the constitutional framework of the right to privacy. Given that the Constitution of Bangladesh makes it impossible to change the fundamental rights due vii to the existence of basic structure, the thesis suggests that a comparative living originalism interpretation could aid in recognising the right to data protection as an inherent component of the constitutional right to privacy.