Data security hinges on safeguards not location: US envoy

: Localisation of data alone would not ensure security of the data as it depends on the levels of safeguards around it, said a senior diplomat of the US Consulate here Thursday.

The statement of the envoy comes in the backdrop of government of India and its Reserve Bank pitching for storage of data on Indian soil.

"...it is really important to understand that localisation is not security and the security of the data depends less on location and more on the legal and technological safeguards around it," the US Consul General Katherine B Hadda said during a programme at the Indian School of Business (ISB).

The RBI had, in April 2018, put out a circular requiring that all "data relating to payment systems" should be "stored in a system only in India" within six months.

International giants usually store data on global servers and the requirement to store data locally would require them to make an additional investment.

But policy-makers in India believe storing data locally would help monitor and conduct investigations if the need arises.

The data stored outside the country can be as safe if the place where the data is stored has robust data protection requirements and technologies, she further said.

There is a need for greater transparency about how data is transferred internationally and greater inter-operability between regulatory institutions, she opined.

The unchecked accumulation of blockages to data flow could greatly diminish the prospects of evolution and changes that it brings such as social economic development and personal empowerment, Hadda said.

"It is critical for success of Digital India and the US digital economy that both India and the United States effectively and efficiently continue as an integrated and synergistic digital ecosystem. The competitiveness of both nations depends on it," the envoy said.

"We can leverage our close technology relationship to unleash the true potential of our national economies, while safeguarding our interests in global governance and geopolitics," she said.

The US-India Business Council, in association with the Telangana government and US Consulate General, Hyderabad, Thursday launched the second edition of the InternationalPrivacy Forum at the ISB.

The privacy forum provides a platform for international policy-makers and regulators to discuss privacy regulations, a press release from US-India Business Council said.