Relevance: GS-2: Functions and Responsibilities of the Union and the States

Key phrases: Data protection bill, Data protection authority

Why in news?

• Committee discusses data protection authority

Analysis:

Features of this bill

• Bill trifurcates data into personal, sensitive personal (finances, health, life, biometric, caste, religion) and critical personal (military national security- government can define it)
• It removes the requirement of data mirroring (in case of personal data). Only individual consent for data transfer abroad is required.
• Bill requires sensitive personal data to be stored only in India. It can be processed abroad only under certain conditions including approval of a Data Protection Agency (DPA).
• Critical Personal Data: Critical personal data must be stored and processed in India.
• The Bill also requires social media companies, which are deemed significant data fiduciaries based on factors such as volume and sensitivity of data, to develop their own user verification mechanism.

Advantages of this bill

• Data localization can help law-enforcement agencies access data for investigations and enforcement. As of now, much of cross-border data transfer is governed by individual bilateral “mutual legal assistance treaties
• Social media is being used to spread fake news, which has resulted in lynching, national security threats, which can now be monitored, checked and prevented in time.
• Data localization will also increase the ability of the Indian government to tax Internet giants.
• Obligation of data fiduciary established-must take encryption and transparency measures
• Rights of individual-can obtain confirmation if their personal data has been processed and can restrict continuation of disclosure-right to be forgotten-fiduciaries need user consent for processing of data-certain exemptions though
• Bill requires social media companies to develop their user verification mechanisms aimed at preventing trolling and anonymity
• A strong data protection legislation will also help to enforce data sovereignty.

Why need was felt for such bill?

• More than 62 crore internet users in India upload terabytes of data every day. This necessitates the need for data regulation.
• SC declared right to privacy a fundamental right. Need for a more robust data protection legislation came to the fore in 2017 post the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment in Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd) v. Union of India.
• According to Ernst and Young, emerging technologies in India will create $1 trillion in economic value by 2025.
• Increasing sophistication of cyber crimes

Issues with the current bill

• Many contend that the physical location of the data is not relevant in the cyber world. Even if the data is stored in the country, the encryption keys may still be out of reach of national agencies.
• National security or reasonable purposes are open-ended terms, this may lead to intrusion of state into the private lives of citizens.
• Protectionist regime suppress the values of a globalised, competitive internet marketplace, where costs and speeds determine information flows rather than nationalistic borders.
• Also, it may backfire on India’s own young startups that are attempting global growth, or on larger firms that process foreign data in India.
• Recommendations for watertight protection against state and non-state actors by BS Sri Krishna committee ignored-can process data without individual consent in cases like national security
• Right to be forgotten not well established-doesn’t provide for deletion-personal data can be used for specific, clear and lawful purposes.

Way ahead

• Prime challenge is to balance the growth opportunities posed by Free Data and Right to Privacy as Fundamental Right as declared by Puttaswamy Judgement 2017.
• India must promote Data Localisation with care and by more scientific and organic categorizations
• Increasing local capabilities in storage processing before localization push-give infra status to data centers

Source: Live Mint

Mains Question:

Q. To what extent would the law on Data Protection address the misuse of social media platforms? Would the provisions of the bill slow down the expansion of internet usage in India? Critically comment. (15 Marks, 250 Words).