BJD Member for data protection law along with Aadhaar

The Biju Janata Dal Thursday supported amendments to the Aadhaar legislation but pitched for bringing a data protection law, saying certain "egregious" agencies are using the private data of individuals for their benefit and the issue could snowball in the near future.

Participating in the debate on The Aadhaar and other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2019, in Lok Sabha, Pinaki Misra said the government will keep tinkering witht the law till it crystalises.

Describing it as a "good" law, the BJD member said concerns of several members that privacy can be breached are not unfounded.

He called for bringing a data protection law simultaneously, alleging that a neighbouring country is constantly looking for data to benefit its interests.

He claimed that the RSS affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch has written to the prime minister flagging the issue of alleged access to private data by a Chinese firm which has stakes in social networking platforms Tik Tok and Hello.

The BJD member told the treasury benches that the use of data by such firms may snowball into a major problem in the near future. He said a data protection law, thus, was essential.

He said there is a need to protect data from "egregious agencies".