Kathmandu. Executive Director of Digital Rights Nepal, Santosh Sigdel, said that although the use of technology has increased in internet access and public service delivery in Nepal with the expansion of digital services, the status of data security, privacy and cyber security of the citizens is weak.
In a conversation with Nepal News Bank, he said that there has been a significant change in the digital sector of Nepal in the last five to seven years. He said that the use of digital systems has increased in tax payment, e-commerce and government service delivery along with the expansion of internet access.
‘In the last five years, there has been a huge change in the sector of digital rights, in the sector of digital governance, and in the sector of digitalization. Internet penetration is increasing very much. Five years ago, digital applications and digitalization were used only in a limited area. Now, its use in public service delivery has increased a lot,” he said.
He said that although the increase in digital access is positive, all citizens are not getting equal quality access. He said that along with the expansion of access and services in various aspects of digital rights, the protection of personal data and privacy of citizens should also be given equal priority.
‘Another major aspect of digital rights is privacy and data protection. We are a little behind in that aspect. Because we don’t even have a law on data protection. When it comes to privacy, its implementation aspect is also very weak,” Sigdel said.
According to him, even though Nepal has a policy related to cybersecurity, there is not enough legal provisions to regulate and implement it. He said that although incidents of data leakage are happening from government agencies to the private sector, there is a weak system to take action against the responsible persons.
“We only have a cyber security policy. There is no separate law on cyber security. Data breaches are taking place in agencies ranging from the Public Service Commission to the Government Integrated Data Centre and the Passport Department. There are cases of data breach in the private sector as well. But no action has been taken on it,” he said.
Sigdel said that although the pace of development of digital technology is fast, the process of law-making to manage it is slow. He said that the Electronic Transaction Act is more than 18 years old and has not been revised according to the times. Giving the example of the bill related to social media registered for the first time in the parliament in 2018, the legal process could not be finalized for long, he said that the law formulation and amendment should be expedited along with the technological development.
He said, “The speed of technology is very fast. The law is following it to make it happen.” The bill related to social media was first registered in Parliament in 2018. Now we are talking about 2026. It has been seven to eight years. He said that with the increase in the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), there is a need for a legal provision regarding its ethical use, impartiality and reliability. He said that although Nepal has a national policy on AI, there is no law to regulate it.
He said that the issue of data protection is directly related to the daily life of the citizens. He said that the personal details of the citizens are collected in banking transactions, health services, schools and various private and government services, so it should be clear how these details are kept safe.
‘We do online banking. It contains our password, username, and other details. They are not secure and if someone else can access them, our financial situation can deteriorate and the account can be empty. Therefore, data security is necessary,” he said.
Sigdel said that there should be clarity about which agency is using the data of the citizens, who has access to it, for how long and when it will be deleted. He believes that especially sensitive financial and health-related data should be kept more secure.
He said that the recent release of police statements, audios, transcripts and government documents during the investigation has raised questions about the data security capacity of government agencies. He said that the leakage of such material before the investigation is completed is a matter related to privacy and the reputation of the individual.
“If the data in the course of the investigation comes out, then someone should be responsible. There is also a need to investigate how that data was leaked, whether it was taken out unauthorizedly or deliberately,” he said.
He also said that with the increase in the use of misinformation, misleading content and AI-generated content on social media, it is becoming difficult to distinguish between real and artificial content. He said that with the development of AI technology, the reality of photos and videos is becoming more and more difficult to identify with the naked eye.
‘ Now the distance between illusion and truth, or between manipulated, synthetic content and real content, is becoming very small. With the development of AI, it has become more and more difficult to distinguish it. It has become difficult to distinguish whether a material is real or not by looking at it with the naked eye,” he said.
He said that technical and forensic examination may be necessary to confirm the authenticity of such materials. Although the expansion of the digital space can be taken as an achievement, Sigdel concludes that policy, legal and institutional reforms are necessary to guarantee the rights, privacy and security of citizens.
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