Discuss the need of The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 introduced in Lok Sabha.
The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 seeks to provide for protection of personal data of individuals, and establishes a Data Protection Authority for the same.
The Bill defines personal data as data which pertains to characteristics, traits, or attributes of identity, which can be used to identify an individual. Key features include:
Obligations of the data fiduciary: The Bill sets out obligations of the entity who has access to the personal data (the data fiduciary). It states that the processing of personal data will be subjected to certain purpose, collection and storage limitations.
Rights of the individual: The Bill sets out certain rights of the individual. These include the right to: (i) obtain confirmation from the fiduciary on whether their personal data has been processed, (ii) seek correction, erasure, completion or updating of personal data, or (iii) restrict continuing disclosure of their personal data, if it is no longer necessary or if consent is withdrawn. Further, fiduciaries may process personal data only if consent is provided by the individual (except in certain cases, such as, if required by a law or a court order).
Data Protection Authority: The Bill sets up a Data Protection Authority which may: (i) take steps to protect interests of individuals, (ii) prevent misuse of personal data, and (iii) ensure compliance with the Bill. The Authority will be comprised of members with expertise in the field of data protection and information technology.
Exemptions: Processing of personal data is exempt from the provisions of the Bill in some cases. For example, the central government can exempt any of its agencies from the provisions of the Act in interest of security of state, public order, sovereignty and integrity of India and friendly relations with foreign states.
Further, the Bill provides that central government may direct data fiduciaries to provide it with any: (i) non-personal data and (ii) anonymised personal data (where it is not possible to identify data individual) for better targeting of services. The Bill has been referred to a Joint Parliamentary Committee
