Rajya Sabha Passes Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023
The Rajya Sabha has approved the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, after Lok Sabha's prior approval on August 07. The aim of the bill is to manage the processing of digital personal data while respecting individuals' data protection rights and lawful data processing needs.
It applies to digital personal data collected within India's territory, both in digital and digitised non-digital forms. The bill also covers data processing outside India related to offering goods or services to Indian data principals. The legislation establishes the Data Protection Board of India, responsible for overseeing compliance, penalties, breach responses, and grievance resolution.
Penalties are defined for offenses, including non-compliance with obligations and data breach prevention lapses. The bill grants individuals rights to obtain information, seek corrections, and address grievances.
Notably, concerns have been raised by privacy advocates about vague provisions like "interest of sovereignty and integrity of India" potentially leading to data misuse. The bill does not mandate data deletion after specified use. Critics have also expressed worries about the central government's control over the data protection board's functioning.
