Data protection law on the anvil; will help growth of Start up in India: Kant

The government will soon introduce a bill in Parliament on data protection, NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant said while emphasising that data is very important for innovation and growth of startups in the country.

"It is very important that the government comes out with a privacy law. It is working on that. The work is at the advanced stage. Whether it comes in this session or next session but that is the top-most priority of the government. It was waiting for the Srikrishna Committee report," he said at Young Turk Conclave here.

Parliament is expected to convene for the winter session in November-December while the next Budget session will start in the last week of January.

Highlighting the importance of data in public space, he said adequate data availability is required for startups to innovate.

He also said there is a need for a lot of research at the universities to do analysis on data.

The draft personal data protection bill was drafted by a high-level panel headed by Justice B N Srikrishna and following the submission of the draft bill and data protection report in July end, the IT ministry had sought public feedback on the provisions by September 30.

The draft bill moots seeking "explicit consent" for processing 'sensitive personal information' like religious or political beliefs, sexual orientation and biometric details.

The draft bill and panel's recommendations suggest steps for safeguarding personal information, defining obligations of data processors as also rights of individuals, and proposed penalties for violation.

The areas covered by the recommendations include consent, what comprises personal data including sensitive personal data, exemptions which can be granted, grounds for processing data, storage restrictions for personal data, individual rights and right to be forgotten.