Union Minister of State for Skill Development & Entrepreneurship and Electronics & IT, Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar, took part in an interactive session with students, startups, and prominent citizens in Bengaluru on Saturday. During this engagement, he recounted the journey behind the development of the groundbreaking Data Personal Data Protection Act, tracing its path from its inception to its current status as a law. He shared his personal journey, which began in 2010 when he initially introduced the concept of privacy as a subject of parliamentary debate during the UPA era.
“The Digital Personal Data Protection Act is an exceptional piece of legislation. On August 15, 2021, our Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, introduced the term ‘Techade,’ reflecting his vision for a future abundant with technological opportunities for the students and young Indians who will form the future workforce. Looking back to 2010, when I was an MP, I introduced a private members’ bill in Parliament, advocating for the recognition of privacy as a fundamental right. Unfortunately, the government at that time didn’t consider it a necessary debate. Essentially, the personal data of our country’s citizens was left open to exploitation,” the Minister stated during his interaction.
Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar further elaborated on how this law fits into a larger mission aligned with Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision. This vision aims to establish contemporary and relevant laws suited to Indian requirements, along with platform obligations.
“The upcoming companion legislation is known as the Digital India Act, set to replace the 22-year-old IT Act. The Digital India Act will address the entire technology ecosystem. Previously, conversations about data privacy in our country often revolved around the GDPR. There was a tendency to regard anything foreign as superior. However, we chose to craft an Indian bill from scratch instead of drawing inspiration from the GDPR. We have considered the Indian internet, with its 830 million users presently and an expected growth to 1.2 billion users by 2025-26. We are the largest connected country globally. We should be setting our own standards in discussions about future technology, rather than borrowing from the EU or US,” the Minister added.
In emphasizing the government’s commitment to treating citizens’ personal digital data with utmost importance, the Minister underscored the significance of imposing substantial penalties. These penalties serve a crucial role – to ensure that industries and platforms adhere to this law.
Shri Rajeev Chandrasekhar stated, “This law establishes a new regime. We will provide companies and industries with a transitional period. The era of misuse, exploitation, and the belief that Indian citizens lack rights comes to an end with this law. This bill is a significant milestone for fostering the innovation ecosystem because it eliminates any ambiguity about how entities should act when privacy is recognized as a fundamental right. In the event of a citizen’s data breach, they simply need to visit the website, provide the data protection board with details, and the board will initiate an inquiry, imposing penalties on the platforms that breach the regulations. We want these penalties to be punitive to incentivize responsible behaviour from platforms.”
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