On Wednesday, the government withdrew the (PDP) Personal Data Protection bill 2019 to replace it with a new bill that includes a “complete framework” and “current digital privacy legislation.”
On December 11, 2019, the PDP bill was a very recent addition to the legislative process. It was initially presented to the Lok Sabha. The Joint Parliamentary Committee was given the bill to review, and on December 16, 2021, they presented their findings to Lok Sabha. The committee suggested a single law addressing individual and aggregate data sets. The report also was contested since it advocated for data localization to the extreme.
IT Chancellor Ashwini Vaishnav, while moving for the withdrawal of such a Bill in the House, told PTI that the government would be bringing a new set of legislation for a thorough legislative structure for digitalization.
Limitations on using people’s personal data without their consent were included in the Bill that was ultimately dropped. Furthermore, it wanted to give the government the authority to exempt its investigation agencies from the Act’s restrictions. The move was vigorously opposed by minority MPs who filed dissent notes.
The speakers of Lok Sabha were given a statement explaining the decision to withdraw. In the announcement, the government was also reportedly said to be taking the 81 revisions and 12 recommendations made by the JPC into account as they drafted a comprehensive legislative framework.
State secretary for IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar tweeted after the Bill was already withdrawn that it would be superseded by a complete set of international standard rules, including digital privacy legislation, to address future and present difficulties and propelled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s agenda forward.
He stated that several issues were noted in the JCP assessment on the Personal Data Protection Act that were important but outside the purview of contemporary Digital Privacy law.
As he continued, he emphasized that India’s inhabitants have privacy right since a Digital Economy worth a trillion dollars necessitates cyber regulations on par with other developed countries.
To “catalyze PM Narendra Modi’s vision of India Techade,” as Chandrasekhar put it, “this will soon be superseded by a thorough system of global standard legislation, including electronic privacy laws.”
This withdrawn data protection Bill also offered the setting up of a particular Data Protection Authority.
While figuring out the template for the international transmission of data, the personal accountability of entities’ data processing, & potential remedies for unauthorized and harmful processing, it is also recommended to clarify the flow & usage of private information. It protects the rights of people whose personal data are used.
