Legal notice seeks halt to DMP’s personal info collection

A Supreme Court lawyer today served a legal notice seeking a halt to the move by Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) to collect identification information of landlords and tenants in Dhaka terming it as “violation of rights to privacy”.

There is no legal basis of collecting such information of tenants through their landlords, said the lawyer, Jotirmoy Barua.

He said he would take legal steps if the initiative is not stopped in 24 hours.

Law secretary, home secretary, inspector general of police and the DMP commissioner have been made respondents to the legal notice.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police yesterday announced that it had been collecting “identification information” on landlords and tenants since November last year and asked all to provide the information by March 15.

READ MORE: Provide personal info by Mar 15

It is part of an effort to create a central database of city dwellers and their service staff and the move is intended to curb crime and create a “sustainable security measure”, said Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah at a press briefing held at the DMP Media Centre.

Collecting such information is a violation of rights to privacy granted by the constitution, Jotirmoy said in the legal notice. “The information can be misused by police.”

After having national identity cards, several city dwellers said they were unsure whether their personal would remain safe in police hands. They viewed the move of this new database unnecessary saying they are already in the national identity card database.