Lok Sabha Passes Digital Data Protection Bill 2023 The Bill ensures both peoples' rights and the responsibilities of organisations managing and processing data

The Lok Sabha on Monday passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023. The bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha earlier on Thursday by Union IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. It aims to establish a comprehensive framework for the protection of personal data. Also, the Bill outlines both peoples' rights and the responsibilities of organisations managing and processing data.

The bill was introduced in the parliament in December 2019 and was then sent to the Joint Committee of the Houses for examination. The committee's report was presented to Lok Sabha in December 2021. Last year in August, however, the government withdrew the bill. Over the past year, the bill underwent a series of consultations and review.

The bill proposes imposing a minimum penalty of INR 50 crore and a maximum penalty of INR 250 crore on corporations that violate the rules. As per the government notification, the rules would apply to both personal data that is gathered offline but later digitised and personal data that is obtained online from data principals in India. If the processing is being done to provide products or services to Indian citizens, it will also be subject to the same rules.

Some other key provisions of the Bill include (i) Firms dealing with user data must protect personal data even if it is stored with a third-party data processor (ii) Firms must appoint a Data Protection Officer, and provide such details to users. (iii) In case of a data breach, companies must inform the Data Protection Board (DPB) and users (iv) Appeals against DPB decisions to be heard by the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal and much more.