Ambani urges PM Modi to end data colonisation

Richest Indian Mukesh Ambani Friday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take steps to end increasing "data colonisation" by global corporations, saying Indians should own and control their own data.

Speaking at the 9th Vibrant Gujarat Summit here, Ambani drew parallels to Mahatma Gandhi's movement against political colonisation to call for a revolution against data colonisation.

"Data is the new oil (in the new world order). And data is the new wealth. India's data must be controlled and owned by Indian people - and not by corporates, especially global corporations," the Reliance Industries chairman said.

The comments come amid a debate over balancing user protections with support for the fast booming digital economy. Foreign giants and hundreds of home-growth startups have flourished amid a dearth of regulation.

"Today, we have to collectively launch a new movement against data colonisation. For India to succeed in this data-driven revolution, we will have to migrate the control and ownership of Indian data back to India - in other words, Indian wealth back to every Indian," he said. "Honourable Prime Minister, I am sure you will make this one of the principal goals of your Digital India mission."
Ambani, who had himself supercharged internet adoption by helping crash data prices with the launch of his telecom venture Jio in 2016, had last month in Mumbai stated that "data colonisation is as bad as the previous forms of colonisation."
Without giving timelines, he said Jio and Reliance Retail, which has over 9,000 stores across 6,500-plus towns in the country, will launch "a unique new commerce platform to empower and enrich our 12 lakh small retailers and shopkeepers in Gujarat - which are part of over 3 crore community in India."