Published on:27 November 2022 at 13:53 IST
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union minister of state for electronics and IT today said, Modi Government will not be able to violate the citizens’ privacy under the proposed data protection law.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar added, the Modi Government will get access to personal data only in exceptional circumstances like national security, pandemic and natural disasters.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union minister of state for electronics and IT said,”Let us say that the government wants to essentially violate the privacy of citizens with this law. Is it possible? That’s the question.”
“The answer is no. The bill and laws lay out in very clear terms what are the exceptional circumstances under which the government can have access to the personal data of Indian citizens. national security, pandemic, healthcare, natural disaster.”
“These are exceptions. Just like freedom of speech is not absolute and is subject to reasonable restriction, so is the right to data protection” .
Modi government is authorised to exempt state agencies which are processing data from the proposed law in national interest. The bill also entails a Data Protection Board to ensure compliance with the proposed law. This board will also hear complaints from the users.
As per the Draft The Data Protection Board can impose penalties for non-compliance. The bill proposes fines up to ₹2.5 billion for failure of entities to take reasonable safety to prevent data breach.