Union Cabinet Approves Personal Data Protection Bill

The Union Cabinet, on December 4, has approved the Personal Data Protection Bill.

The Bill, which proposes a framework for processing of personal and private data by public and private entities, is expected to be introduced in the Parliament for consideration and passing in the Winter Session.

It was moved by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY) in the Cabinet meeting.

Minister of Telecom and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad had recently informed the Rajya Sabha that the Bill was in progress and it would be introduced very soon in Parliament.

The draft bill, titled The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018, was prepared by a panel led by former Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna. It proposes rules on collection, processing and storage of personal data, individuals’ consent, penalties and compensation, code of conduct and an enforcement model. It is unclear if the approved Bill has been tweaked.

The proposed law is likely to impact multinational corporations operating in India due to its data localisation requirement and restrictions on cross-border data transfer.―Money Control