Research-based Advocacy on Unintended Lacunae of including aspects of NPD in PDPB

The sheer economic value of data, perversity and quantum of data flow makes a pressing case for data regulation. Unregulated data poses many concerns, including unfettered data collection and processing and data breaches due to lack of security standards for data protection, among others. Regrettably, despite being the second fastest growing digital economy and a flourishing IT industry, India lags far behind when it comes to a robust data protection regime.

Since 2017, there have been intensive deliberations on matters relating to data protection. To this end, the latest development has been the Joint Parliamentary Committee’s (JPC) Report on the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 (PDPB), which was presented to the Lok Sabha on December 16, 2021. The JPC Report on the PDPB has recommended a slew of amendments in the PDPB.

One of the most notable amendments, pertains to widening the scope of the PDPB to include aspects of NPD. This inclusion of NPD under the scope of PDPB is a significant departure from previous recommendations and drafts of the Bill, which may lead to various unintended challenges and adverse consequences for data principals (users), data fiduciaries (service providers), proposed Data Protection Authority (DPA), as well as the government.

With this context, CUTS is undertaking this research-based advocacy and outreach initiative for key policy-makers/influencers (among other relevant stakeholders) to bring forth a multi-stakeholder perspective on the concerns arising due to the inclusion of NPD to ensure a whole-of-governments approach to data governance.

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