New Delhi: Lok Sabha on Monday passed the long-awaited Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023, which had sparked privacy concerns.
While the government has said the Bill will protect the rights of citizens, detractors argued that it would grant “unchecked powers” to the central government by way of exemptions as well as powers to block content.
The bill proposes, among other things, to ease cross-border data flows and introduces penalties of up to Rs 250 crore on entities misusing or failing to protect digital data.
The bill — which has been in the works for about six years now — was introduced in the House Thursday by Union Minister for IT, Telecom and Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw amid demands from the opposition to refer it to a parliamentary standing committee.
Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, said the Bill would protect the rights of all citizens.
“This new Bill, after it is passed by Parliament, will protect the rights of ALL citizens, allow the innovation economy to expand, and permit Govt’s lawful n legitimate access in national security and emergencies like pandemics and earthquakes, etc., (sic)” he said on 3 August.
The Editors Guild of India on Sunday, however, expressed concerns over certain provisions of the Bill, saying it could have an adverse impact on press freedom.
In a statement, the Guild said the Bill created an enabling framework for surveillance of citizens, including journalists and their sources.
The Guild asked Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla to refer the Bill to a parliamentary standing committee.
It also wrote about its concerns to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and all leaders of political parties in Parliament.
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