NEW DELHI: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the draft of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill 2023, which will be tabled in the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament. According to official sources, the Central government had sought feedback from the public and received as many as 21,666 responses. The sources added that valuable suggestions were received from government agencies, private entities, members of civil society, law firms, journalists and others.“The idea was to have maximum consultation, and we have considered all suggestions seriously,” said an official.
According to the government, the purpose of the proposed bill is to govern and safeguard the use of the personal data of citizens. It mandates that the collection and usage of personal data should be lawful, protected from breach, and have transparency. It says the collection of data should be for a legal purpose and that the data should be safely stored till the purpose is served.
In case of a data breach, it should be reported in a fair, transparent, and equitable manner to the Data Protection Board, a Central government-appointed body. The bill also proposes exemptions. For instance, the government can collect and keep data on grounds of national security, law and order etc. If disputes arise, the Data Protection Board will decide on them. The bill will also have an alternative dispute resolution mechanism under which a complaint can be resolved by mediation or other process of dispute resolution.
The Data Protection Bill was first drafted in November 2022. Since then, it has gone through several rounds of public discussion. The bill also has the option of voluntary undertaking by the ‘guilty’ party. If the board accepts the voluntary undertaking in any matter related to non-compliance, then the party would be exonerated for its failure to comply with some provisions of the law.
Rs 250 crore fine for violation of norms
The draft bill proposes to levy heavy penalties up to Rs 250 crore on companies for every instance of violation of norms. This may be increased depending on the number of persons impacted by the violation of norms