Amid opposition, Lok Sabha to take up Data Protection Bill 2023 tomorrow

livemint.com:

INDIA members strongly opposed the introduction of the bill and said that the bill violates the fundamental right to privacy. The Opposition bloc in Lok Sabha had also sought that the bill be sent to the standing committee for scrutiny. They said the government had withdrawn a bill on data protection last year and the new bill needs more scrutiny.

Vaishnaw said that it is not a money bill and all issues raised by the opposition will be answered during the debate. The Bill provides for the processing of digital personal data in a manner “that recognises both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process such personal data for lawful purposes". In view of the feedback from stakeholders and various agencies, the Bill was withdrawn in August 2022.

On November 18, 2022, the government published a new draft Bill, titled the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022, and initiated a public consultation on this draft. A comprehensive and detailed consultation was held on this subject. 21,666 comments were received from the public and a series of consultations were held with 46 sector organisations, associations and industry bodies.

Comments were also received from 38 ministries/departments of the Government of India. The reintroduced draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022 proposed six types of penalties on non-companies to companies. To prevent a personal data breach, a penalty of up to ₹250 crore is being proposed in the draft bill which was put out for public comments.