Government of India

Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology

Rajya Sabha

Unstarred Question No. 1942

To be answered on 05^th December 2019

Personal Data Protection Bill

1942. SHRI RAJEEV CHANDRASEKHAR:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state?

(a) Whether it has come to the notice of Government that, according to a study conducted by UK-based research firm, India has been ranked third worst for data privacy in Global Surveillance Index,; and

(b) What is the status of draft Persona Data Protection Bill, 2018, by when it is expected to be tabled in the Parliament?

ANSWER

Minister of Electronics and Information Technology

(Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad)

(a) There are media reports about UK-based research firm Comapritech, highlighting that India ranks behind only Russia and China when it comes to surveilling citizens. These attempts to malign the Government of India for the reported surveilling citizens are completely misleading. The Government is committed to protect the fundamental rights of citizens including the right to privacy and will take strict action against any intermediary responsible for breach of privacy. The Government operates strictly as per provisions of law and laid down protocols. There are adequate safeguards to ensure that no innocent citizen is harassed or his privacy breached.

(b) The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) on 31st July 2017, vide OM No.3(6)/2017-CLES, constituted a Committee of Experts under the Chairmanship of Justice Shri B N Srikrishna, Former Judge, Supreme Court of India, to look into all aspects relating to personal data protection. The committee gave its report on 27th July, 2018. The Committee also submitted a draft Personal Data Protection Bill. vide consultations were held on the draft bill and open feedback was invited on the contents of the bill. These are currently being processed and it is proposed to table the bill in Parliament.

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