The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) in a statement has hailed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill (DPDP) as industry-friendly.
The bill has struck the right balance between protecting the interests of the data principals while leaving enough room for tech start-ups to innovate and grow.
As per IAMAI members, the reconceptualization of the data protection framework in the DPDP to balance innovation and economic growth with the interests of users will go a long way to assuage concerns of digital businesses. It will help make India a trillion-dollar digital economy by 2025.
In particular, IAMAI has appreciated the more liberalized framework for cross-border data flows and the exclusion of non-personal data from the ambit of the DPDP Bill.
The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill imposes only financial penalties for non-compliance as opposed to both financial and criminal penalties.
A Few Concerns:
While IAMAI hails the bill, its members have also raised a few concerns. There remain ambiguities surrounding the timelines for implementing the various provisions of the Bill. The bill also misses the mechanisms for obtaining verifiable parental consent to process the personal data of children.
IAMAI has requested more clarity on the reasonable timelines by which the various provisions of the DPDP will be implemented. It has urged the government to adopt a graded approach to prescribing such timelines.
It has also urged the government to consider a flexible approach to obtaining parental consent. The prescriptive mandates may have an adverse cascading impact on sectors that provide services to younger individuals.
Dr. Subho Ray, president, IAMAI said, “By following a deep and wide process of consultation including that of a joint parliamentary committee, excluding non-essential provisions, by making a clear commitment that no Rules exceeding the provisions of the Act would be made, and yet protecting the interests of the state, citizens and the digital economy, this Bill has possibly set up new standards of law-making.”
IAMAI is confident in its outlook on Digital Personal Data Protection Bill. It expects that through consultation and collaboration, the final version of the law will help stakeholders.
