The draft of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022 is likely to get an approval from the Union Cabinet today i.e. on 5 July, a report by Indian Express has stated. It further stated that after the cabinet approval, the bill will be tabled in the Monsoon session of the parliament.
“The Cabinet is expected to take up the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 on Wednesday and once it gets the approval, the Bill will be tabled in the upcoming Parliament session,” a senior government official requesting anonymity told Indian Express.
Last year in December, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that the government expects to get the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill and Telecommunication Bill passed in Monsoon session of Parliament.
Earlier in April 2023, the Centre told the Supreme Court that a new data protection bill is ready and will be introduced in the Monsoon session of Parliament in July, as the apex court heard a matter related to privacy concerns of social media users.
The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill is legislation that frames out the rights and duties of the citizen (Digital Nagrik) on one hand and the obligations to use collected data lawfully of the data fiduciary on the other hand. The Bill, which seeks to govern and safeguard the use of personal data, sets out the rights and duties of users, and the obligations on businesses.
The bill is based on six principles of the data economy of which the first one talks about the collection and usage of the personal data of citizens of India. The collection and usage of personal data should be lawful, must be protected from breach and transparency should be maintained. The second principle talks about data collection exercise that must be for a legal purpose and the data should be safely stored till the purpose is served.
The next principle talks about data minimization which says that only relevant data should be collected of individuals and serving the pre-defined purpose should be the only aim. Speaking of the fourth principle,
The fourth principle is regarding Data Protection and Accountability while the fifth talks about the accuracy of data. The last principle lays down the rules regarding reporting a data breach. In case of a data breach, it should be reported in a fair, transparent, and equitable manner to the Data Protection Boards.
The proposed data protection legislation allows the transfer and storage of personal data in some countries while raising the penalty for violations.
The proposed legislation stipulates consent before collecting personal data and provides for stiff penalties of as much as ₹500 crore on persons and companies that fail to prevent data breaches including accidental disclosures, sharing, altering or destroying personal data.
In May 2023, during an interview with news agency PTI, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar had asserted that the upcoming Digital Personal Data Protection Bill will drive "deep behavioural changes" among those platforms in India that have for long exploited or misused personal data. On the digital personal data protection (DPDP) bill, which will be introduced in the coming session of Parliament, the minister said the draft legislation has undergone a lot of consultation and is designed as "a truly world class piece of legislation".
"I have absolutely no doubt that the DPDP Bill will create deep behavioural changes among platforms in India who have for long exploited and misused personal data," the minister said.
In November 2022, the government released the draft of a new comprehensive data protection bill , three months after withdrawing a previous bill that had alarmed big technology companies.
The earlier version of the Digital Data Protection Bill was withdrawn as the government promised to deliver a more comprehensive version of the bill. While talking about the reasons for withdrawal, Ashwini Vaishnaw informed that the parliament committee scrutinizing the bill recommended 88 amendments in a bill of 91 sections and that pushed the government to rethink the whole bill.
(With inputs from agencies)
Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
MoreLess