Storing data in India can safeguard citizen interests: CERT-IN

Citizens cannot be stopped from accessing services of companies amassing huge data like Facebook and Google and the only way to safeguard interests is to ask them to store the data domestically, a senior official from the government's cyber security body said today.

"We cannot control or stop the Facebooks or the Googles or such agents walking into this country," Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN) director Tulika Pandey said at an event here.

Similarly, citizens cannot be told that we do not have the adequate mechanisms to safeguard their personal information being shared "happily" on such sites, she added.

"It is becoming more and more pertinent for governments to start at least making the right mechanisms or regulations for somehow safeguard the data of its citizens within the strongholds of the country itself," she said.

In the comments that come amid heightened concerns on data privacy after the Cambridge Analytica revelations, Pandey conceded that pulling off such a move is a "daunting" task.

"We are not sure how much and how soon or how far will we be really able to cover the entire gamut of technology services that today work in this country everyday," she said, speaking at the maiden Finsec conclave organised by the Data Security Council of India (DSCI), a non-profit promoted by software lobby Nasscom.

Referring to the work happening on the data privacy law, Pandey said there is a need for us to classify data into public, private and what can be shared voluntarily in order to access any services.

She said the introduction of the biometric-based Aadhar makes it necessary to have data classification norms in place.

Speaking at the same event, Reserve Bank of India's chief general manager Charulatha Kar said there are issues and challenges confronting the digitisation agenda.

She said the process starts with business process reengineering and cannot be implemented easily and also encompasses other challenges like newer delivery channels, the tech-powered new entrants versus the legacy saddled entrenched players, privacy rights of individuals accessing services and data protection.