Govt Withdraws Data Protection Bill; New Comprehensive Bill To Be Introduced

The Data Protection Bill was withdrawn from the Lok Sabha to incorporate comprehensive changes in the new draft, slated to be introduced soon.

Context: The draft of the bill was prepared by a panel led by retired Supreme Court judge Justice B N Srikrishna, following which it was introduced in Parliament in December 2019.

• The bill aimed to provide protection of digital privacy to individuals relating to their personal data, specify the flow and use of data, and create a relationship of trust between persons and entities processing the data.

• It was referred to the Joint Committee of the Houses for examination and the report of the committee was presented to the Lok Sabha on 16 December 2021.

The report suggested multiple changes in the draft, which will now be incorporated into the new bill.

• According to Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the Joint Committee of Parliament had proposed 81 amendments to the bill and 12 recommendations to the draft bill towards a comprehensive legal framework on digital ecosystem.

• Suggested amendments covered the inclusion of non-personal data, data localisation, social media platforms' accountability with rest to content hosted, data breaches, user consent, data minimisation, and other matters related to privacy.

The new bill can be expected as early as the winter session of the Parliament, as per an Indian Express report.