Now no one can take data of a citizen sans consent, says Nadra chief  

National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) Chairman Tariq Malik has claimed that sensitive institutes and banks can no longer check NADRA data without the will of citizens, reported 24NewsHD Tv channel. 

In an exclusive talk with the 24NewsHD Tv channel, he said arrangements had been made for special tools to make NADRA data more secure. “Now, no organization will be able to take the information of a citizen without his consent.” He added if the bank or any institution wants to get the citizen's information, the citizen will receive an SMS for this. “An OTP code will be asked in the SMS.”

Nadra chairman divulged that NADRA has developed special software for the digital census. “Now, the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics (PBS) will conduct the digital census with the help of NADRA,” he said adding that wrong registration in the census process has become impossible after the introduction of special software of NADRA. An agreement between NADRA and the PBS was signed on 20 June 2022 to offer an IT turn Key solution for the upcoming 7th Digital Census in the country NADRA.

The officials will register houses and populations through special patterns. Forms will open on the Android system with special checks attached, he added. 

He said that the election 2023 will be held based on the results of the digital census. 

Malik Tariq also revealed that NADRA has completed arrangements for geo-location through GPS system during census.  “The transparency of the census process can be seen through the dashboard.”

He said that a web portal is also being created for citizens to enter their information themselves. 

The activity shall be performed using android-based intelligent devices equipped with House Listing and Enumeration Applications synchronized with Global Positioning System (GPS) and Geographic Information System (GIS).

 He said that 126,000 tablets have been purchased specially for the digital census and are being given to the census teachers.”

He said the data of these tablets will be secure and the data will be deleted automatically in case of theft. Nadra chairman further disclosed that these have been delivered to 900 different areas of the country. 

Chairman Nadra Tariq Malik said that the digital census was a step that pulled Pakistan out of the ancient past and opened the door to a modern future.

 According to the new and modern procedure, citizens will be able to enter their data for the census by sitting at their homes, he added. 

“Election Commission's voter list is being created on the basis of one person, one identity and one vote.”

He added that the data of the number of people who turn 18 in a month is provided to the Election Commission

“The person who produces his identity card is given the information to which address the vote should be given to the election commission,” he revealed, adding that the Election Commission makes a new entry in the voter list based on this information. 

“Photo of the voter has also been made mandatory for printing voter lists.”

He continued that the person issuing the ballot papers will now allow voting by seeing both the ID card and the photograph. 

NADRA has started this process for transparent elections. He added. 

Malik Tariq recalled that Nadra has removed 37 million fake voters from electoral rolls. 

“Electoral lists are much better now than in the past,” he hinted. 

Tariq said that NADRA's data is secure and we stay two steps ahead of the competition in preventing cyber-attacks. 

 “The employees of our organization who have leaked data have been identified and strict action has been taken against them,” he asserted, adding NADRA data-checking employees are also being identified.   He said more than 30 million fake voter lists were seized.