The Senate Standing Committee on Interior on Tuesday unanimously approved amendments to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA), while members raised serious concerns over large-scale theft of Pakistanis’ personal data, its sale on the web, and misuse for cross-border travel.

The meeting, chaired by Senator Faisal Saleem, also saw strong displeasure over the absence of the Inspector General of Sindh. The committee noted that the IG neither attended the session nor formally informed the panel.

Senator Saifullah Abro criticised what he termed the “unchecked authority” of the police and called for legislation to make police officers accountable before parliamentary committees.

He questioned police performance in Sindh, including action against criminals in riverine areas, and referred to recent incidents in which police officers were killed. He asked whether police accountability would extend beyond what he described as the humiliation of parliamentarians.

The committee took up the PECA amendment bill, with Senator Anusha Rehman saying that the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) supported the proposed changes.

She questioned the mechanism for removing objectionable content from social media and asked what action would be taken if platforms failed to comply with requests from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the NCCIA.

The Director General of the NCCIA told the committee that social media platforms had been approached to seek cooperation. Senator Rehman responded that a clear, enforceable procedure was needed, recalling that service providers had previously refused to remove content unless a crime was legally established.

Senator Afnan Ullah raised a case of identity fraud, informing the committee that a fake passport was used in the name of a consultant linked to the Attorney General’s Office, enabling a fraudster to travel to India in 2023.

The affected lawyer was present in the meeting and confirmed that his identity and passport details were misused. He said he and his parents were forced to visit NADRA offices to prove their Pakistani citizenship following the incident.

The Director General of Passports told the committee that NADRA had shared several such fraud cases and that a new dashboard had been developed to help prevent travel through forged or misused identities.

Senator Palwasha Khan questioned how identity data was stolen from NADRA. The DG Passports said citizens often share passport and CNIC details over WhatsApp, from where data can leak.

Senator Talha Mahmood alleged that NADRA had issued identity cards to Afghan nationals and terrorists. The DG Passports said the cited case occurred in 2023 but added that both NADRA and the passport department had since introduced technological improvements.

Senator Afnan Ullah further claimed that data from NADRA, banks, and the Federal Board of Revenue was available on the dark web and could be purchased for as little as Rs500. He said such large-scale data theft could not occur without internal involvement.

The affected lawyer told the committee he holds dual nationality and travels on a British passport, adding that he had been waiting for a meeting with the DG Passports for over a year.

After deliberations, the committee unanimously approved the PECA amendment bill, while calling for stronger safeguards to protect citizens’ data and stricter accountability within relevant institutions.