The Government on Wednesday withdrew the Personal Data Protection Bill after a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) suggested 81 changes to it. The Government said it will come out with a “set of fresh legislations” that will fit into the comprehensive legal framework.
The Bill, withdrawn by IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, aimed to provide protection of digital privacy to individuals relating to their personal data, specify the flow and usage of data, and create a relationship of trust between persons and entities processing the data.
Vaishnaw moved a motion in the Lok Sabha to withdraw the Bill.
The motion was passed with a voice-vote and the Bill was withdrawn.
“The Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 was deliberated in great detail by the Joint Committee of Parliament. 81 amendments were proposed and 12 recommendations were made towards a comprehensive legal framework on the digital ecosystem. Considering the report of the JCP, a comprehensive legal framework is being worked upon.
“Hence, in the circumstances, it is proposed to withdraw ‘The Personal Data Protection Bill 2019’ and present a new Bill that fits into the comprehensive legal framework,” Vaishnaw said in a statement.
Soon after the withdrawal of the bill, Congress leader Manish Tewari tweeted, “Most unfortunate, Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, as amended by Joint Committee of Parliament is being withdrawn by Govt. For full two years ... MPs across parties worked to better it. Big Tech never wanted this Law. Big Tech won. India lost.”
The Government would hold a wide public consultation before putting the new legislation to Parliament, sources said. The Bill could be replaced by more than one Bill, dealing with privacy and cyber security and the Government may bring the new set of Bills in the Winter Session of Parliament. The Government circulated among members a statement, containing reasons for withdrawal of the Bill, which was introduced on 11 December2019 and was referred to the Joint Committee of the Houses for examination. The report of the JCP was presented to Lok Sabha in December 2021.
The withdrawal of the Bill was made part of the supplementary agenda of Lok Sabha this afternoon. The withdrawn Bill had proposed restrictions on the use of personal data without the explicit consent of citizens. It had also sought to provide the Government with powers to give exemptions to its probe agencies from the provisions of the Act, a move that was strongly opposed by the Opposition MPs who had filed their dissent notes. According to the statement circulated to Lok Sabha members on Wednesday, the 2019 Bill was deliberated in great detail by the JCP, which proposed 81 amendments and 12 recommendations for a comprehensive legal framework for the digital ecosystem.
After the Bill was withdrawn, Minister of State for IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar tweeted that this will soon be replaced by a comprehensive framework of global standard laws including digital privacy laws for contemporary and future challenges and catalyse Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision. He said the JCP report on the Personal Data protection bill has identified many issues that were relevant but beyond the scope of a modern Digital Privacy law.
“Privacy is a fundamental right of Indian citizens & a Trillion-dollar Digital Economy requires Global Std Cyber laws,” he said in another tweet. The withdrawn data protection Bill had also proposed the setting up of a Data Protection Authority. It had also proposed to specify the flow and usage of personal data,protect the rights of individuals whose personal data are processed, as it works out the framework for the cross-border transfer, accountability of entities processing data, and moots remedies for unauthorised and harmful processing.
The Bill had been sent to the panel in 2019 after it faced strong protests from the opposition Congress and Trinamool Congress among others who said the data privacy law violated fundamental rights of citizens. The Opposition parties said the law gave sweeping powers to the government to access personal data of individuals under opaque conditions, citing national security and other reasons. The Bill defined personal data as information that could help in the identification of an individual and has characteristics, traits and other features of a person’s identity. According to Opposition parties, the law would make it easier for the government to keep a tab on citizens, while the government defending it said the penalties listed for unauthorised use of the data were enough to prevent such cases. The law also would have required large social media platforms to offer an identity-verification option, a potentially precedent-setting effort to rein in the spread of “fake news”. The requirement would likely raise a host of technical and policy issues for companies including Facebook and its WhatsApp and Instagram units, Twitter, among others, all of which have millions of users in India.
The Personal Data Protection bill was awaited by top technology companies and industry stakeholders as it could alter the way all major internet companies process, store and transfer Indian consumers’ data. The Bill drew criticism from many industry stakeholders. New Delhi-based privacy advocacy group Internet Freedom Foundation said the Bill “provides large exemptions to Government Departments, prioritises the interests of big corporations, and does not adequately respect your fundamental right to privacy.”