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<ul><li>Early stage startups were expecting to be exempted from the newly passed <keyword id="18428599" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="digital-personal-data-privacy-act" source="Orion">Digital Personal Data Privacy Act</keyword>, but it looks unlikely, say legal experts.</li><li>Government has not yet given a timeline to implement the newly minted <keyword id="18428600" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="dpdp-act" source="Orion">DPDP Act</keyword>. Startups ready to make representations to the government asking for two years to implement <keyword id="10289812" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="new-privacy-law" source="Orion">new privacy law</keyword>.</li><li>Industry awaits rules that will ensure implementation of the Act, as the devil is expected to be in the detail. </li></ul> After years of debate, India now has a data privacy law in place. Companies can no longer report data breaches and get away with it. There will be consequences if data of consumers is compromised or misused. Earlier this month, both houses of the Parliament passed the Digital Personal and Privacy Act, which will change how businesses collect personal information digitally and even use that information. However, the new DPDP Act has the startup ecosystem and their legal advisors in a bind because there is no clarity on how much time will be given to implement the new Act. The startup ecosystem is ready with their representations as they are seeking at least two years to implement the new DPDP Act. So far, businesses and startups have been collecting personal information of consumers at varying stages of their journey and consumers have had little say in how this information is being used. Despite the law, there is no clarity on when consumers can actually expect compliance by service providers. There are key aspects on which there are no answers. The first is the implementation of the Act. While the Union minister for Electronics, IT and Railways, Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that the law will be implemented “soon”, companies are in a bind as they do not know how soon that could be. The new Act will require the smaller companies and startups to completely rework their backend and frontend to comply with the new law, which is why they need more time. Law firms are divided on when the sun will set on the existing law that governs data privacy. Probir Roy Chowdhury, Partner at J Sagar, is of the view that the absence of a sunset/implementation period means that stakeholders should ensure that they are ready to comply as soon as the <keyword id="15585157" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="DPDP-Bill" source="Orion">DPDP Bill</keyword> is enacted. But this may not be the case as the government is engaging with stakeholders to arrive at a time period that companies will get to implement the new DPDP Act. The industry is betting on a two-year timeframe to implement the new privacy laws just as the European Union had granted industry before the General Data Protection Regulation kicked in. The European Union’s Parliament passed the GDPR in 2016 but the law was implemented by May 2018. India’s startup ecosystem is betting on a similar timeframe to implement the new privacy laws. Industry is also awaiting the drafting of the rules, which will detail how the privacy law will be implemented. The government is yet to release these rules. Explains Jitendra Ahlawat, Managing Partner at HJA &amp; Associates LLP, “The entire Act is about the fundamental lay of the land. In many cases, the Act refers to rules which will be drafted later. The rules will outline details on how the Act will be implemented.” Till the rules are in place, the industry is unsure on the implementations and the nitty gritties of the Act. The longer the government takes to draft the rules, the more time the industry has to implement the new Act and transition to a new format. Many startups that Business Insider spoke to said that they were not even expecting the DPDP Bill to be passed by the Parliament in its current form. The startup ecosystem is also disappointed by the lack of exemptions in the Act. Early stage startups were expecting to get exemptions from implementing the new privacy law, but the Act does not give details on the same nor has the minister hinted at any. Ahlawat says early stage startups were to get exemption from certain conditions under the Act, but there is no clarity on the same. Garima Mitra, co-founder of Treelife, says: “We don’t know what exemptions startups are going to get, if at all any.” Before enforcing the new law, the government also has to appoint the Data Protection Board to deal with compliance issues and breaches if any. The board will be a body corporate and will have perpetual succession and a common seal, with power, subject to the provisions of this Act. The Board will consist of a Chairperson and such number of other Members as the Central Government may notify. The Chairperson and other Members shall be appointed by the Central Government. Currently, startups are looking at their basic IT infrastructure to figure at what stage is a consumer’s data collected and how many people have access to that data. Once data mapping is over, startups will have to focus on provisions of the new law and integrate the core principles into their backend and frontend. Currently there is no provision to erase the data of a consumer, companies will have to also put in place systems that will allow change and erasure of data. Explains Mitra, “The way to ease it is to give a timeline to ease it. No rules have been formulated. The Act is the first step towards transition. But a lot of time will be needed to transition to provisions in this Act. This Act will affect all companies that collect data and digitise it. GDPR was implemented after 18 months."

Devil in the detail: New privacy law has startups in a bind as government may not grant exemptions

The upcoming Digital Personal Data Protection <keyword id="19032" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="bill" source="Orion">Bill</keyword> will drive "deep behavioural changes" among those platforms in <keyword id="3658" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword> that have for long exploited or misused personal data, <keyword id="6357801" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="union" source="Orion">Union</keyword> minister <keyword id="205969" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="rajeev-chandrasekhar" source="Orion">Rajeev Chandrasekhar</keyword> has asserted. In an interview to PTI, the minister of state for IT and electronics also sought to allay concerns around the issue of government-appointed fact check body, saying the move is not about censorship at all, rather it gives the Centre an opportunity to clarify and respond to any <keyword id="535763" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="misinformation" source="Orion">misinformation</keyword> related to it, something that is critical in a democracy. Misinformation, he said, is not to be confused with right to free speech. The minister noted that misinformation tends to travel 10-15 times faster, and reaches an audience 20-50 times more, than truth. He emphasised that it is absolutely critical that in a democracy if someone says something false about the government, to create hatred, to incite violence, or to just create mistrust, "the government must have an opportunity to say no, this is not true". "So there is no censorship, there no restriction on free speech. This is simply about saying what is patently false, is patently false. And that is certainly not to be confused or deliberately distorted to imply that this is a crackdown on free speech," Chandrasekhar said. The minister's comment assumes significance as the decision to notify an entity that will flag false information posted online pertaining to the government has raised concerns in some quarters on whether it gives government absolute powers. "I think there is some misunderstanding about what it is we are trying to do," the minister said when asked about the issue. "Misinformation is expressly an area that has already been prescribed in the rules as an area that platforms have to do significant work in moderating misinformation if they are to enjoy Section 79 protection. It is already mandated in the rules of October 2022," he said. Rather, the fact check unit aims to help platforms in identifying false content posted about the government. "It is not an opinion. It is not about saying that we will create another narrative about the government," Chandrasekhar added. On the digital personal data protection (DPDP) bill, which will be introduced in the coming session of <keyword id="6354721" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="parliament" source="Orion">Parliament</keyword>, the minister said the draft legislation has undergone a lot of consultation and is designed as "a truly world class piece of legislation". "I have absolutely no doubt that the DPDP Bill will create deep behavioural changes among platforms in India who have for long exploited and misused personal data," the minister said. At the same time, those who have played fair will not get affected, and will continue to do the right thing, he observed. "Those who have done it (misused data), tracked consumers, used cookies they certainly will have to go though deep behavioural change... Those who are already doing it right, have nothing to fear. But those who have, in a sense, lived off this model of exploitation will certainly have to reconsider," minister said. He expressed hope that the bill will come up in the Monsoon session of Parliament. The draft bill - which has seen an overhaul after its withdrawal in August last year - details the citizen's rights on personal data, with provisions that makes entities handling personal data accountable for managing it with safety and security in a responsible manner. "The purpose of this bill is to provide for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognises the right of individuals to protect their personal data, the need to process personal data for lawful purposes and for other incidental purposes," an explanatory note of the draft bill said. The proposed data protection legislation allows the transfer and storage of personal data in some countries while raising the penalty for violations. The proposed legislation stipulates consent before collecting personal data and provides for stiff penalties of as much as Rs 500 crore on persons and companies that fail to prevent data breaches including accidental disclosures, sharing, altering or destroying personal data. On being asked about Meta being fined a record-breaking USD 1.3 billion recently by European Union regulators for violating EU privacy laws, and whether India too can look at large financial deterrants for Big Tech for non-compliance of laws, the Minister said idea is not about competing with the EU on size of penalties. "I don't think we are in the business of competing with the EU in terms of the size of the penalty, but the formulation of penalties in this Bill is sufficient to incentivise every data fiduciary or any platform to behave correctly, to follow the law, and do the right thing," he said. The days when platform could exploit the data of consumers is fast coming to an end, he said, adding there are many powers under the bill that have been given to the Indian consumer to interrogate, search, check what data the platforms have. "...and I think certainly it's a balance of protecting the consumer rights, as well as continuing to allow innovation and investments," the minister said. On WhatsApp spam call issue, Chandrasekhar said that the government has called out to WhatsApp and other messenger companies about the problem and emphasised that it is unacceptable. "They have responded with alacrity and responded very quickly. They are searching out many solutions. We have also asked them to give to us what are the overseas telecom carriers from where these originate, so that we can talk to BSNL, and to our own <keyword id="150664" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="telecom-department" source="Orion">Telecom Department</keyword> to make sure that these carriers are also warned that there is unlawful activities originating from their networks, and that if that continues, we may have to look at some kind of a discussion of whether those networks will be allowed to terminate in India as well," he said. The government and players are not adversaries, rather they work in partnership, he said, adding that a safe and trusted internet for 1.2 billion consumers "is good for business, government, and for citizens". SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/india-dominates-smartwatch-market-accounts-for-over-a-quarter-of-global-sales-in-q1-2023/articleshow/100522354.cms">India dominates smartwatch market, accounts for over a quarter of global sales in Q1 2023</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/2000-note-withdrawal-how-to-exchange-notes-is-it-a-legal-tender-and-other-questions-answered/articleshow/100412941.cms">₹2,000 note withdrawal – How to exchange them, is it a legal tender and other questions answered</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/electric-scooters-and-bikes-may-get-costlier-as-government-looks-to-revamp-the-fame-ii-scheme/articleshow/100321089.cms">Electric two wheelers may get costlier as government looks to revamp the FAME-II scheme</a>

Data protection bill to drive deep behavioural changes for platforms exploiting data: Chandrasekhar

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Devil in the detail: New privacy law has startups in a bind as government may not grant exemptions

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Data protection bill to drive deep behavioural changes for platforms exploiting data: Chandrasekhar

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