Disagreement on Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019
Recently some tech companies in the United States of America have called for the formation of a new working group, expressing their disagreement on the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019.
Trade and industry bodies as well as some tech companies in the United States have started talks with senior government officials in India to discuss issues related to the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019.
This new working group will function differently from the currently working Indo-US working group on Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
What are the concerns raised with regard to this Bill:
- In this bill, emphasis on local storage of data and restrictions on cross-border flow of data are some of the provisions which have been objected.
- With data localization, one of the main issues is that India does not yet have large data centers. Small data centers are not very cost effective and are unable to meet the security norms of the companies as well.
- Further, the inclusion of non-personal data in it would hinder policy decision making for corporates.
Key Features of the Personal Data Protection Bill:
- The Government of India, through the Personal Data Protection Bill, will also regulate personal data collected by companies. It covers data collected by both companies formed in India and foreign companies dealing with personal data in India.
- The Bill classifies certain personal data such as financial data, biometric data, etc., as sensitive personal data.
- Under this, personal data can only be processed for a specific, clear and lawful purpose.
- The Bill allows processing of data only with the consent of the individual, except in certain circumstances.
- Apart from this, the bill also provides for the establishment of a data protection authority. This authority may take measures to protect the interests of individuals, prevent misuse of personal data, etc.
Personal Data: Personal data consists of characteristics, traits or qualities related to the identity of the individual. It can be used to identify a person.
Non-personal data: Non-personal data includes aggregated or aggregated data through which individuals cannot be identified.
Example: A person’s own location creates personal data. On the other hand, information obtained from the location of more than one operator, which is often used to analyze traffic flow, falls under non-personal data.
Source – The Hindu
