Opposition raises concerns as data protection bill is tabled in Lok Sabha

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Member of Parliament (MP) Asaduddin Owaisi said the bill empowers the government to access private data and is likely to create a surveillance state

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Thursday tabled in Lok Sabha the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill a year after a previous version of the proposed law was withdrawn over issues related to privacy and cumbersome compliance. The proposed law has been six years in the making and the latest version is its fifth

Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. (PTI)

The bill seeks to ensure digital personal data of Indians is processed “in a manner that recognises both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process such personal data for lawful purposes”. It proposes to make internet companies and businesses accountable for the storage and processing of data.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen Member of Parliament (MP) Asaduddin Owaisi said the bill empowers the government to access private data and is likely to create a surveillance state.

Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi suggested the bill be sent to the parliamentary standing committee for further evaluation. “[The] bill impinges on the...right to privacy,” he said.

Trinamool Congress lawmaker Saugata Ray called the new bill very different from the original one sent to the committee. “They have changed the bill altogether. I want this bill to be sent again to the standing committee.”

Congress MP Manish Tewari said the bill contradicts the fundamental right to privacy the Supreme Court held in the Puttuswamy judgment. “The bill will apply with full force to all non-government organisations and the government will be exempt from it.”

Nationalist Congress Party MP Supriya Sule referred to the excessive centralisation of data. “It hurts the spirit of the federal structure. The Right to Information is diluted. The government will be completely protected and others will be completely exposed.”

Vaishnaw said the government is ready to discuss the concerns about the bill.