Data Scandal: Jazz Accused of Selling Customer Information to Third-Party Businesses

As Pakistan grapples with accusations of mass surveillance on its citizens a new storm is brewing this time involving the countrys largest telecom provider Jazz. The company is at the center of a growing controversy accused of selling sensitive customer data to private businesses.

Imagine this: your real time location complete call logs even records of every international trip you have ever taken quietly sold online without your knowledge. According to investigators this dystopian scenario is not a warning. Its already happening.

A shocking report by a digital watchdog reveals that stolen personal data is being traded on the dark web for shockingly low prices. For just Rs500 a buyer can track someones movements. For Rs5,000 they can access detailed records of overseas travel. Its a privacy nightmare sold cheap.

And this is not an isolated breach. Just months ago Pakistans National Cyber Emergency Response Team (PakCERT) confirmed one of the largest data breaches in the countrys history leaking login credentials of over 180 million users. From bank accounts to hospital records and government portals nothing was safe.

Now Jazz is facing intense backlash. The scandal escalated when a prominent industry figure openly accused the telecom giant of selling customer data echoing what millions of users have long suspected. For years Jazz subscribers have been bombarded with relentless spam calls and promotional texts now many are asking if this was the cost of doing business with them.

While Jazzs official privacy policy states that user data is shared with third parties for “billing customer support and marketing” the company insists that only anonymized data is used for advertising. But the line between “shared” and “sold” appears dangerously thin.

This unfolding digital privacy crisis has left millions of Pakistanis asking the same chilling question: Is our personal data just another product for sale?