Letter to BS: Data protection laws not means to promote surveillance

While the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill drafted by Justice B N Srikrishna in 2018 had rightly balanced the interests of industry and individuals, the reworked version of the draft Bill, approved by the Union cabinet, had evoked concerns including those shared by Justice Srikrishna himself. He had raised alarm by pointing to some of its provisions and their potential negative fallout -- such as the potential of it leading to the emergence of an Orwellian state. By arrogating to itself the power to define the nature of critical data, sensitive personal data and non-sensitive personal data and the constitution of the proposed Data Protection Authority besides diluting provisions requiring foreign fiduciaries from locating and processing data within the territory of India, the government had created an apprehension about pervasive state surveillance. Data protection laws are not means for promoting state surveillance. Instead, those should be aimed at protecting the individuals from both Big Digital and Big Brother.

M Jeyaram,  Sholavandan

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