New data protection bill to be introduced in monsoon session: Centre informs SC
The new Bill, if passed by the Parliament, would replace the current Information Technology Rules, which was notified in 2011
The Centre has told Supreme Court that a new data protection bill will be introduced in the monsoon session of the Parliament, according to reports.
The bill is ready and was submitted to the constitution bench headed by Justice KM Joseph which also comprises justices Ajay Rastogi, Aniruddha Bose, Hrishikesh Roy, and C T Ravikumar.
Attorney General R Venkatramani told the constitution bench about the new bill during the hearing of petitions challenging WhatsApp’s policy to share users’ data with Facebook group of companies.
The draft bill invited comments from the public in November 2022 and the last receipt of those comments were January 2, 2023. The Ministry has been since collating and analyzing the feedback and comments to take the bill forward. The draft proposed that companies use consumer data for their original purposes only, seek accountability from firms on personal data of the users and stop storage of data with companies by default.
The new Bill, if passed by the Parliament, would replace the current Information Technology Rules, which was notified in 2011.
Reportedly, the new bill would also address concerns raised by petitioners about personal data protection in connection with WhatsApp privacy policy.
