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Afghanistan

Summary

Law: There is no general personal data protection law.

Regulator: There is no data protection authority.

Summary: Whilst there is no general data protection law in Afghanistan, the Constitution of Afghanistan provides for the right to confidentiality and privacy of communications. Additionally, sectoral laws such as the Telecommunications Services Law (available in Pashto and Dari here) and the Banking Law of Afghanistan contain some limited clauses on data protection, and the Penal Code was amended in 2017 to include penalties for cybercrime. Anti-money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism ('AML/CFT') are an area of focus in Afghanistan, and the central bank, Da Afghanistan Bank's financial intelligence unit, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Afghanistan, completed the country's first national risk assessment in 2019, which has informed the development of Afghanistan's AML/CFT regime.

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