Parliament Passes Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, has successfully passed through the Rajya Sabha, following its prior endorsement by the Lok Sabha on August 07. The primary thrust of this legislation is to regulate the processing of digital personal data, striking a balance between safeguarding individuals' data privacy and fulfilling lawful data processing requirements.

The bill's jurisdiction extends to the processing of digital personal data, both within India's borders and beyond. It encompasses instances where data is collected in either digital or non-digital form and subsequently digitized. Additionally, if data processing outside India is tied to providing goods or services to Data Principals within the country, it falls under the Bill's purview. "Data Principal" refers to individuals whose personal data is in question.

The cornerstone of data processing under the Bill is obtaining consent, permissible only for specific "legitimate uses". "Personal data", as defined by the Bill, encompasses information relating to identifiable individuals.

Notably, the Bill empowers the central government to exempt government agencies from certain provisions based on grounds such as state security, public order, and offense prevention.

A significant feature of the Bill is the establishment of the Data Protection Board of India by the central government. This entity will supervise compliance, levy penalties, guide data fiduciaries during data breach incidents, and address grievances raised by affected individuals.

Penalties are stipulated for various violations, including non-fulfillment of obligations towards children (up to Rs 200 crore) and failure to implement security measures to prevent data breaches (up to Rs 250 crore).

The Bill mandates that consent requests should be accompanied or preceded by notices detailing the purpose of proposed personal data processing. It also confers specific rights upon individuals, such as obtaining information, seeking corrections and erasures, and having a mechanism for addressing grievances.

Author: Anushka Taraniya

News Writer, MIT ADT University