AfghanistanConstitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Articles 37 and 38 (Privacy)
Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (2004), Arts. 37 and 38
In force since .
A comprehensive regime rule binding public and private bodies.
- Audit expectation
- none
What it requires
- Afghanistan's 2004 Constitution protects communications privacy (Article 37, including a voiceprint or other biometric identifier transmitted over a communications channel) and home inviolability (Article 38, subject to a narrow evident-crime exception requiring a court order after the fact) against state intrusion, but creates no personal-data-processing regime, no data-subject rights, and no supervisory authority for a private-sector app to comply with. United Nations reports describe the Constitution as suspended by the de facto authorities, with no further clarity on the legal framework.
These lines are LexLint's reading of the law's text.
Who enforces it
Settledness
- As of
- Open questions
- Does "communications of individuals" in Article 37, described as "whether in the form of a letter or via telephone, telegraph, as well as other means", reach the content of messages sent through an internet application?
- Does Article 37, which says "The state shall not have the right to inspect personal correspondence and communications", bind a private party that holds an individual's communications, or only the state?
- Which instrument now supplies the "provisions of the law" that authorize inspection under Article 37, and the "situations and methods delineated by law" that Article 38 allows?
What it makes you log
Logging duty
Article 37 makes the confidentiality of correspondence and communications secure from intrusion and bars the state from inspecting them unless a law authorizes it; Article 38 makes private residences immune from entry and search except by the owner's permission, a court order or the cases the law sets. Neither article requires any person to keep a log or record, and neither names an audit, a retention period or a territorial hook.
- Kind
- None
- As of
What this law does
Article 37, read verbatim in full, secures freedom and confidentiality of correspondence and communications of individuals, whether by letter, telephone, telegraph or other means, from state inspection absent authorization by law.
Article 38 makes personal residences immune from entry or search without the owner's permission or a court order, subject only to an evident crime exception under which the responsible official must still obtain a court order after the fact, within the time limit set by law. Neither article defines personal data, sets processing conditions, or establishes a supervisory authority; both are bare constitutional rights enforceable against the state rather than a comprehensive data protection regime.
A report of the United Nations Secretary-General dated recorded that the Constitution of 2004 "remained suspended, with no further clarity on the legal framework". A United Nations compilation for the Human Rights Council dated records that, following the Taliban takeover, "the de facto authorities suspended the 2004 Constitution and all domestic legislation, creating a legal vacuum".
Both reports describe the 2004 Constitution as suspended, not as repealed, and this row takes no position on whether the de facto authorities are recognized.
When LexLint raises it
When your app profile says your app processes personal data.
Back to the example · Lint your app
Page updated .