Explainer: India’s New Data Protection Bill

What is data protection?

In today's digital world, where everybody uses the internet, every single internet activity involves the collection of data such as IP address, location, etc. Companies collect and use personal information (data) for business purposes.

While data can be useful, unregulated data in the wrong hands can harm a person’s security and privacy. So, it is important to safeguard the personal data of all citizens.

Keeping this in mind, the Indian government has released the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 (DPDP Bill, 2022).

What does the new DPDP Bill say?

The DPDP Bill of 2022 covers both online and offline personal data. The bill states that permission is required before collecting personal data.

Individuals and businesses who do not take steps to avoid data breaches will face fines of up to Rs. 5 billion. Companies are allowed to keep collected data for specified periods of time. The bill also looks to form a Data Protection Board of India.

The board will look for any noncompliance and issue fines if necessary. Also, children's personal data cannot be collected without the parents’ permission.

Why has this bill been revised?

The DPDP Bill, 2022, is the fourth draft of the data protection bill. An earlier version of this bill placed several restrictions on data transfer, processing, and storage abroad. The bill received a lot of opposition from various companies.

So, the government withdrew the previous bill and made several changes. The laws in the new bill are much more lenient than in the earlier ones.

What did we learn from this article?

We learned about the importance of data protection and what the government is doing to protect the citizens of the country. The rules have been created so that our personal data cannot be misused. Still, we must be careful so that no harm happens to us.

Do you think the government is doing the right thing by introducing this bill? Please tell us in the comments section.