User-centric Digital Personal Data Protection Bill gets Cabinet nod
Govt may introduce the Bill in upcoming monsoon session of Parl
With Union Cabinet approving draft of Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill 2023, it seems India’s own long-awaited digital personal data protection rules to become a reality soon as the government may introduce the Bill in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament, which is scheduled to begin from July 20 in the Old Parliament Building.
As per the draft legislations, all online and offline data in India will fall under its legal domain and personal data can be processed under this bill only if an individual has consented to it. But there are some exceptions for when the government might need data on grounds of national security and law and order.
The bill includes almost all the provisions of the last draft that was issued by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology for consultation, while the government entities have not been granted a blanket exemption under the proposed law.
“In case of disputes, the Data Protection Board will decide. Citizens will have the right to claim compensation by approaching the civil court. There are a lot of things that will evolve gradually,” a senior official said.
According to draft rules, individuals would have the right to seek details about their data collection, storage, and processing once the law is implemented. The bill also proposes to levy a penalty of up to Rs 250 crore on entities for every instance of violation of norms in the bill, the official added.
Earlier, Union Minister for Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnav had also said that the bill alongside a Telecom Bill will be presented during the Monsoon session.
The key objective of the new bill is to regularise the processing of digital personal data in a manner that protects citizens’ privacy. The draft bill also aims at empowering citizens to control the information they share online. In case firms collect personal data from individuals, they have to provide notice to declare the purpose of data collection.
