Indian Data Privacy Law To Come Soon

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has asked National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) to update them on the details about the digital payment service being tested by global messaging application WhatsApp.

Post news flash by the Cambridge Analytica. WhatsApp has around 200 million users in India itself. Now, the government of India is leaving no stone unturned to secure Facebook-owned messaging platform WhatsApp, which is set to launch its payment service in the country this month. Let’s see on how Facebook owned WhatsApp, is addressing this issue to match India’s data protection and privacy laws. Secondly, they have to store the data in Indian soil. Moreover, the government of India will be interested also in knowing what data is shared with the Facebook. Reason being, the official WhatsApp payment blog says, they share a limited number of data to United States where their facility and services are established. The official website states that, “If you use Payments, you agree to our data practices, including the collection, use, processing, and sharing of your information as described in our Privacy Policy.

Government is keeping all the finger crossed to hear the recommendations of the Justice BN Srikrishna, former Supreme Court judge , formed a committee on data protection legislation to come by the end of this month June 2018. The 10-member committee he heads ,comprising academics and government officials - is putting the finishing touches to their bill. The draft will need parliament approval to be enacted.

Ravi Shankar Prasad said, that he is expecting the first-cut of the draft will come across by June 2018. As it is s very complex law,they are allowed also to make some more time ,in case they want more time to frame and the government will be open to it.

Srikrishna committee recommendation report is expected to send to the government for approval in this week, this draft of data-privacy laws for India is going to regulate on how tech giants , which has raised lots question inside the business houses dealing into the live data , mostly based out of US and other countries . The policy is going to bring the standards and protect all citizens of India.

India has accelerated from a ‘bail gaadi’ economy to a silicon-chip economy, said Srikrishna , using the Hindi expression for ox cart. “But privacy and data regulation rules are still far behind. Data is getting flooded at any moment and with the lack of regulations has fuelled concern among privacy activists and citizens groups. There were many incidents have come to the limelight, including a recent case of southern state of Andhra Pradesh that inadvertently exposed the demographic and bank details of more than 130,000 people.

Currently, foreign companies and hundreds of home-grown startups collect, aggregate, store and process Indian user data unhindered.
Srikrishna’s framework would rein in such practices. It will detail what is fair use, whether technology giants can transfer data across the border, and how to enforce accountability and penalties for violations. It will also establish whether users can access and control their own data, like with the EU’s GDPR.

Like we keep diabetes and blood pressure in check, controls are needed for data,” Srikrishna said. He believes the average Indian has no idea how much data they’re generating or how it’s being used. Should we then have pictograph warnings for consent, like they have on cigarette packs. he asked. The country has no culture of privacy either: Only last year did the Supreme Court rule that privacy is a fundamental right. The biggest challenge according to Srikrishna is not drawing up laws but enforcing them.