IANS | 06 Jul, 2023
The approval of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill by
the Cabinet presents a positive step towards instituting a data
protection regime in the country and industry will need to work closely
with the government so that the rules are simple and implementable,
especially for the startup ecosystem, experts said on Thursday.
The
clearance paves the way for the DPDP Bill to be introduced in
Parliament in the upcoming Monsoon session, scheduled to begin on July
20.
“Parliamentary approval will likely be sought during the
Monsoon session, and could further invite dialogue/resistance during
discussions with stakeholders, which may render this exercise moot,”
Abhishek Malhotra, Managing Partner, TMT Law Practice, told IANS.
The Cabinet had earlier approved a version of the Data protection Bill as well, which met with similar resistance.
“However,
primarily, the DPDP Bill has received considerable endorsement from
academicians, policymakers and industry players, and will enable India
to safeguard citizen data with a light touch approach,” Malhotra added.
The
data protection bill specifies norms on management of personal data of
residents in India and requires explicit consent from people whose data
is collected and used.
According to Malhotra, the penalty
provisions will ensure that security considerations, data safety are
paramount considerations for entities that have been at the receiving
end of several data breaches during the post pandemic years.
“However,
the government's role during enforcement, the institution of the Data
Protection Board and formulation of delegated guidelines will provide
practical direction, and must follow swiftly on the heels of the
impending enactment of the Bill,” he noted.
Gowree Gokhale, leader
of the IP, technology, media and telecom practice at Nishith Desai
Associates said that the bill is a much-awaited legislation.
“The
last version of the Bill was much simpler than the earlier versions.
Various industries had given feedback on several aspects e.g. cross
border transfer, handling of children’s data, deemed consent provisions,
the powers of the board in levying penalties. Hopefully, the government
has addressed industry concerns in the next version,” said Gokhale.
The
industry will need to work closely with the government so that the
rules are simple and implementable, especially for the start-up
ecosystem, Gokhale added.
The Bill also outlines practices for
entities that collect personal data, how that data should be stored and
processed to ensure there is no breach.
