December 17, 2021, New Delhi, India.
Joint parliamentary committee (JPC) tabled its report on Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 in Indian parliament today. The committee has recommended wide ranging changes including widening the scope of the bill to include non personal data in the ambit of data protection bill. It was also recommended that all social media platforms, who are currently classified as ‘mediators’, be declared ‘publishers’. Deliberations for nearly two years in examining each clause of Personal Data Protection Bill of 2019 resulted in the finalization of the 542 page report that contains 81 recommendations for modifications and 150 drafting corrections and improvements in PDP 2019 bill.
As pr JPC Chairman PP Chaudhary – “the report will have a global impact and far reaching ramifications for handling and protection of personal and non personal data in the country”. As per parliamentary rules, the PDP bill, as amended by JPC, is the draft legislation that will need cabinet clearance before it returns to parliament for introduction, consideration and passage.
The panel also suggested renaming the proposed legislation as Data Protection Bill 2021, which proposes to do away with the distinction of personal and non personal data, recommends setting up of Data Protection Authority and strongly recommends preparation of a extensive policy on data localization for safe storage of data belonging to Indian citizens.
