Govt okays Bill proposing Rs 15-cr fine for data misuse, easy storage rules

The Cabinet’s approval paves the way for the Bill to be tabled in Parliament in the ongoing winter session

The government is learnt to have relaxed the mandatory storage and processing requirement for all kinds of personal data and made a case for the collection of anonymised data from companies for planning government schemes in its long-awaited draft data protection Bill, which was approved by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday.

The Bill categorises data as sensitive personal data and critical personal data. Sensitive data includes passwords, financial data, health data, sexual orientation, biometric data, genetic data, transgender status, and caste. Critical data will be defined by the government from time to time.

All companies will have to store the critical data of people within the country, but they can transfer sensitive data overseas after explicit consent of the data owner to process it only for purposes permissible under law once the Bill is approved by Parliament, government sources said.

There is a relaxation on storing a copy of all personal data in India, or mirroring. “The government will have the right to direct a data fiduciary to share anonymised or non-personal data for better targeting of service, policy-making, relief work, etc,” said a source. All other aspects of non-personal data will be handled by a committee headed by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan. The Cabinet’s approval paves the way for the Bill to be tabled in Parliament in the ongoing winter session….Read More

Citizenship Bill on Cabinet agenda, Amit Shah meets Northeast CMs

A large section of people and organisations in the northeast have opposed the Citizenship Bill

On the eve of a meeting of the Union Cabinet, which is likely to approve the Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB), Home Minister Amit Shah met politicians and organisations from the northeastern states on Tuesday to understand their concerns over the proposed law.

Apart from the contentious Citizenship Amendment Bill, the Cabinet is likely to clear the Personal Data Protection Bill and further amendments to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act and the Companies Act. The Narendra Modi government hopes to ensure the passage of these Bills during the ongoing winter session of Parliament which concludes on December 13.

Shah held discussions with the representatives of students’ bodies and civil society groups of Assam on the CAB. Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal, too, attended the meetings. It was the third such session held by Shah since Friday. Mizoram CM Zoramthanga also called on Shah.

The groups, including the All Assam Students Union, told Shah that they are apprehensive that the proposed law, if enacted, could affect the indigenous people of the northeast. There have been widespread protests in the northeastern states against the Bill. Government sources said the northeastern states could be kept out of the purview of the Bill…