Journalistic Exemption from Data Protection Laws: A Critical Appraisal from the Perspective of Bangladesh

The right to profession and freedom of expression are considered as one of the most valid human rights. Beside these, data protection is a serious concern in modern age. The professionals who mostly face difficulties in between these are the journalists. Journalists often need to do secret investigation regarding any crime or corruption and disseminate confidential or evidentiary documents before the public which is the main object of their duty, that may lead to violations of data protection laws. The protection of any kind of data is necessary, but it is equally important to protect the journalistic freedom and the object of their profession, especially for the issue of public interest and human rights. However, there is no legal provision that strongly can lead to the protection of these concerning issues other than the recently introduced draft Data Protection Act. It is high time to introduce provisions with specific exemption within all laws related to data protection for the higher protection systems to ensure the safety, privacy, and freedom of journalists regarding their independent practice. This paper works on the actual standpoint of Bangladesh about ensuring the rights and protection of journalists. Bangladesh needs to enact and enforce effective mechanisms to protect the rights of the journalists about their professional conduct. Thus, the purpose of the paper is to identify the actual necessity of journalistic exemption from the data protection laws and recommend possible solutions by analyzing the current legal framework in Bangladesh with a comparative analysis of international law.