Govt Can’t Violate Privacy Of Citizens Under Data Protection Bill, Data Access In Exceptional Situations: MoS IT

The proposed Data Protection Board -- which adjudicates matters related to data protection -- will be independent and will not have any government officer on the board, MoS IT said.

Minister of State for Information Technology Rajeeev Chandrashekhar

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New Delhi: Under the proposed data protection bill, the government will not be able to violate the privacy of the citizens as it will get access to personal data only in exceptional situations like national security, pandemic, and natural disasters, said Minister of State for Information Technology Rajeev Chandrashekhar, reported news agency PTI. 

While speaking in an online discussion, the minister said the National Data Governance Framework Policy has provision for handling anonymisation of data -- which is not part of the draft Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill 2022.

The proposed Data Protection Board -- which adjudicates matters related to data protection -- will be independent and will not have any government officer on the board, he said. 

While responding to questions around privacy on Twitter Live on Saturday evening, the minister re-phrased the question of a participant to clarify the stand of the government and provisions in the draft DPDP Bill 2022.

"Let us say that the government wants to essentially violate the privacy of citizens with this law. Is it possible? That's the question. The answer is no. The bill and laws lay out in very clear terms what are the exceptional circumstances under which the government can have access to the personal data of Indian citizens.... national security, pandemic, healthcare, natural disaster.

"These are exceptions. Just like freedom of speech is not absolute and is subject to reasonable restriction, so is the right to data protection," Chandrasekhar said.

Under the draft DPDP Bill, exemptions have been made for certain entities notified as data fiduciaries by the government from various compliances, including sharing details for the purpose of data collection.

The provisions from which government notified entities will be exempted deal with informing an individual about the purpose for data collection, collection of children's data, risk assessment around public order, appointment of data auditor, among others.

The bill proposes to exempt government notified data fiduciaries from sharing details of data processing with the data owners under the "Right to Information about personal data".

The draft DPDP Bill also bars individuals from sharing unverifiable and wrong information with data handling entities, which some people believe will deter anonymisation on internet platforms, especially on social media.