The new draft bill for digital personal data protection will be introduced in the Parliament as soon as the Budget session, according to Ashwini Vaishnaw, the minister of information technology and communications for the union.
Speaking at the Times Now Summit 2022, Vaishnaw claimed that the draught Bill would make justice accessible to everyone, not only the urban, technologically sophisticated populace.
Everyone agrees that the bill will increase access to justice for all people, not just the tech-savvy individuals sitting in Delhi, Bangalore, or Mumbai who already have access to everything. But under the bill, individuals from Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, and tribal regions of Odisha will also be eligible to seek justice, according to Vaishnaw.
Digital Personal Data Protection Bill should pass through in coming budget session
He continued, “Based on the responses, I believe we will be able to pass the bill in the budget session. That is the response we have received regarding the bill.”
The Minister responded to criticism of the digital personal data protection bill 2022 draft bill on surveillance by stating that the Apex Court had already established the procedure, which involves numerous checks and balances.
Citing cybersecurity threats, and internet privacy laws especially from state actors, Vaishnaw said that it was important to keep track of threats the internet landscape is under.
Telcos installing 2,500 towers a week – Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw
He also said that the proposed data protection board will perform independently, despite the appointment of the members by the government.
“The data protection bill clearly mentions it will be an independent body which will perform in a particular way which will automatically guarantee its independence,” added Vaishnaw.
On the telecom sector, the Minister said that the country was perhaps headed towards the fastest 5G deployment in the world, adding that the government had set an ambitious target of two years to deploy the network pan-India.
Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted that telcos were installing 2,500 towers a week, adding that the number was expected to grow even higher beginning in April.
What is Digital Data Security mean in the new bill?
The purpose of the draft Bill is to provide for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognizes both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process personal data for lawful purposes, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
The draft Bill employs plain and simple language to facilitate ease of understanding and is available on Ministry’s website at https://www.meity.gov.in/data-protection-framework along with an Explanatory note on what is data protection that provides a brief overview of its provisions, which is available at https://www.meity.gov.in/data-protection-framework
The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill frames out the rights and duties of the citizen (Digital Nagrik) on one hand and the obligations to use collected data lawfully of the Data Fiduciary on the other hand. The bill is based on the following principles around the Data Economy:
