The Indian Government has informed the Supreme Court that a new Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 is ready and will be tabled in the upcoming monsoon session of the parliament in July.
The new bill aims to enforce individual privacy in the online space and replace the current information technology.
The Supreme Court has recognized privacy as a fundamental right in 2017 and emphasized the need to protect online personal data from prying eyes. In January, the government had initiated a stakeholder consultation exercise on the draft Bill and had invited comments from the public. The Ministry was in the process of “collating and analyzing the feedback and suggestions received, with a view to take the draft Bill forward”.
The purpose of the 2022 Bill is to “provide for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognizes both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process personal data for lawful purposes”. The Bill defines data as a “representation of information, facts, concepts, opinions or instructions in a manner suitable for communication, interpretation or processing by humans or by automated means”.
The Bill also separately defines data fiduciary as persons who determined the purpose and means of processing of personal data; data principal as the individual to whom the personal data related to; data processor as any person who processes personal data on behalf of a data fiduciary.
This Bill has been in the works for some time, and its passage would mark a significant step forward in safeguarding the privacy of Indian citizens in the digital age. With the increasing amount of personal data being collected and processed by companies, it is essential to have robust regulations in place to ensure that this data is not misused or mishandled. The Bill, if passed, would bring India in line with other countries that have enacted comprehensive data protection laws.
