Data protection bill to make social media firms accountable, strengthen IT industry

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill that the Rajya Sabha has cleared will make social media companies operating in India more accountable, boost the IT industry and change the way organizations process data of Indians, Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said. The exemptions given to the government are far fewer than what the European privacy law provides, he said.

Why it’s important: The data protection legislation has been approved after multiple iterations and long delays. There are still some concerns over the powers the government would wield under the new law. Moneycontrol