While Afghanistan's legal framework for data protection is less developed and consistently enforced compared to many Western nations, there are fundamental principles that limit the public dissemination of personal information. The Afghanistan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA) is the main regulatory body for the telecommunications sector. Telecommunication service providers like Afghan Wireless Communication Company (AWCC), Roshan, Etisalat Afghanistan, MTN Afghanistan, and Salaam are generally bound by privacy policies that commit to protecting subscriber information. For instance, AWCC's privacy policy explicitly states their commitment to protecting subscriber privacy and taking measures to prevent unauthorized access switzerland phone number library or disclosure of personal information.
The lack of a robust, consistently enforced national data protection law similar to GDPR means that while individual privacy is recognized, enforcement mechanisms may differ. However, telecommunications companies themselves operate under agreements with their subscribers that restrict the sharing of private data.
The Absence of a Public Directory:
Unlike some countries that historically maintained printed phone books, a comprehensive, updated, and publicly accessible digital "phone number library" for Afghanistan's individual citizens is not available. This is influenced by several factors: