New Delhi: The Indian government is set to unveil draft rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act within the next month, according to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.
The minister revealed that the government has prioritized the digital implementation of the Act and has formulated rules accordingly. “The framework is complete, and we anticipate releasing the draft rules for public consultation within a month,” Vaishnaw stated to reporters.
The final draft of the rules underwent a review last week and is expected to be made public shortly. The minister emphasized that the language of the rules will be kept simple and accessible to all.
After a period of public consultation, the rules will need to be presented before Parliament for approval before they can be officially implemented.
The DPDP Bill, which was passed by Parliament on August 9, 2023, aims to safeguard individuals’ data privacy and prevent its misuse by online platforms. The Act imposes strict compliance requirements on the collection and processing of personal data and introduces hefty penalties of up to Rs 250 crore for any data breaches.
While the Act grants the government the power to exempt state agencies from its provisions, it primarily applies to the processing of digital personal data within India, regardless of whether the data was initially collected in digital or non-digital form.
The Act defines personal data broadly, encompassing any information that can be used to identify an individual or is related to such data.
