Individual Privacy Act, 2018

Chapter-1
Preliminary

1. Short Title and Commencement: (1) This Act may be called the "Act Relating to Personal Privacy, 2075".

(2) This Act shall commence immediately. 2. Definitions: Unless the subject or context otherwise requires, in this Act,-

(a) "Residence" means a house, tenement, apartment, room, or dwelling place where any person resides, and the said term also includes a room of a hotel, resort, lodge, guest house, or camp where such person stays overnight, or any other place of a similar nature.

(b) "Prescribed" or "as prescribed" means prescribed or as prescribed in the rules made under this Act.

(c) "Personal Information" means the following information relating to any person:-

(1) His/her caste, ethnicity, birth, origin, religion, color, or marital status,

(2) His/her education or educational qualification,

(3) His/her address, telephone, or electronic mail (email) address,

(4) His/her passport, citizenship certificate, national identity card number, driving license, voter identity card, or details of identity documents issued by a public body,

(5) A letter sent by him/her to someone or received by him/her containing personal information,

(6) His/her fingerprint, palm print, retina, blood group, or other biometric information,

(7) His/her criminal background or details of his/her having been punished for or having served a sentence for a criminal offense,

(8) What kind of opinion or view was expressed in such process by a person providing professional or expert opinion in a decision-making process.

(d) "Property" means movable or immovable, tangible or intangible, corporeal or incorporeal property, and the said term also includes intellectual property.

(e) "Public Body" means the following bodies:-

(1) The Government of Nepal, a Provincial Government, or a Local Level, or government offices under the Government of Nepal, a Provincial Government, or a Local Level,

(2) Courts, other judicial bodies, constitutional bodies, or subordinate offices,

(3) Regulatory bodies or offices under them,

(4) Companies, banks, committees fully or partially owned or controlled by the Government of Nepal, a Provincial Government, or a Local Level, or commissions, institutions, authorities, corporations, foundations, boards, centers, councils, and other organized institutions of a similar nature established by the Government of Nepal, a Provincial Government, or a Local Level pursuant to law,

(5) Political parties and organizations registered pursuant to the prevailing law,

(6) Universities, colleges, schools, research centers, and other similar academic or educational institutions established or operated by the Government of Nepal, a Provincial Government, or a Local Level, or receiving full or partial grants from the Government of Nepal, a Provincial Government, or a Local Level,

(7) Institutions operating on loans, grants, or guarantees of the Government of Nepal, a Provincial Government, or a Local Level,

(8) Institutions fully or partially owned or controlled by an institution referred to in sub-clauses (1), (2), (3), or (4),

(9) Any other institution designated as a public body by the Government of Nepal by publishing a notice in the Nepal Gazette.

(f) "Person holding a public office" means a person elected, nominated, or appointed to and currently serving in any post of a public body.

(g) "Organized Institution" means an institution, company, bank, committee, cooperative association, federation, or other organized institutions of a similar nature established pursuant to the prevailing law.