The new draft of the Data Protection Bill, which is currently being worked on by the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY), will enable “efficient usage” of data with necessary safeguards since businesses in the country may use it, a senior official of the ministry said Monday.
Speaking at the International Technology Summit 2022 organised by Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Additional Secretary at MeitY Rajendra Kumar said, “…the new draft is being worked on for the Data Protection Bill to augment efficient usage of data with confidence that data would be protected while allowing that data may be used by the industry.”
Law hanging fire
The data protection law has been hanging fire for some time now, having previously faced criticism over aspects of local storage of data and data sharing among different government agencies.
He added that the digital makeover across government, industries, and MSMEs is at varied levels of maturity, with most MSMEs being behind in tech adoption. As digital services penetrate rural areas, cyber-related threats could increase, he said.
“The government has put in place the long-term vision and has a proactive approach to deal with emerging tech and subsequent threat levels,” Kumar said.
Last month, the Centre had withdrawn the previous Data Protection Bill from Parliament and said it would soon come out with a “comprehensive legal framework” for the online ecosystem which would include separate legislations for data privacy, social media companies, telecom sector, and non-personal data, among other things.
In an interview to government-run Sansad TV, Union Communications and IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had said that the drafting of the new Data Protection Bill is nearly complete and the Ministry is aiming to introduce it in Parliament by next year’s Budget Session.
