India pushes ahead with data privacy bill despite pushback from critics

India’s lower house of parliament greenlit the revised data privacy legislation presented the previous week, even as the bill has received criticism, with many believing that it grants significant discretionary authority to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, which was reintroduced in the lower house last week (nearly a year after abrupt withdrawal of a previous proposal last), makes companies collecting user data mandatory to obtain explicit user consent before processing it. However, it includes “certain legitimate uses” as an exemption for data collection without user consent. It lets platforms process personal user data without the consent of their users when it is provided voluntarily in certain situations, such as sharing payment receipts with users or offering public services.

The bill allows the Indian government to waive compliance requirements for certain data fiduciaries, such as startups, if necessary. The bill also empowers the government to establish a data protection board and appoint all its members, including the chairperson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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