(BSS) - The government has not introduced any provision mandating data localization in the Personal Data Protection Ordinance (PDPO), Chief Adviser`s Special Assistant on Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb said in an open letter shared on his official Facebook post.

Taiyeb said the PDPO was formulated through extensive consultations with domestic and international stakeholders and an authority will be formed to coordinate inter-ministerial data governance and policy implementation.

Rejecting a recent newspaper report, he clarified that the claim that "all data must be stored domestically" is completely false.

The PDPO only covers certain highly sensitive data-such as NID, biometric and voter information, date of birth, and banking data-under Bangladeshi law, while allowing processing abroad under Bangladeshi court jurisdiction.

He said Bangladesh has adopted a cloud-first policy, not data localization, and the ordinance provides an 18-month transition period along with a consent-based data protection framework aligned with EU GDPR and ASEAN standards.

Taiyeb emphasized that strong and modern data governance is essential to protect citizens` data, uphold digital sovereignty, and build a trusted digital future.