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The Free Software Movement of India (FSMI) has flayed the proposed Data Protection Bill, which it feels will completely fail to protect the data of users.
“It puts the onus of any legal consequences on the user in the case of withdrawal of consent. This is unjust and places undue pressure on the part of the user to forcibly retain consent. User privacy and rights are neglected completely by not providing any means for erasure of personal data,” it said.
Plea to govt
FSMI has asked the government not to accept the draft Bill in its current form and work for a stronger data protection law which puts control of data in peoples’ hands.
“It provides the government access to personal data without any checks and balances. There is scope for mass surveillance and legitimises any data collection by the government,” FSMI General Secretary Y Kiran Chandra has said.
The draft Bill prepared by the Justice Sri Krishna Committee was submitted to the government last week. “Far from protecting user data, the Bill has no provision for any inquiry about data collected by the government. It exempts the government from any consequences of data breach,” Chandra said. “It gives a free hand to employers in collecting and processing data for the purposes of recruitment, termination, assessment etc of the employees – without taking their consent. This proposition is dangerous considering the recent breaches of personal data which were collected during Aadhar enrolment,” he said.
“This draft Bill subverts the provisions of the RTI (Right to Information) Act, crippling citizen's right to information. This is a move aimed at reducing transparency and accountability of the government.
Data localisation
Kiran Chandra alleged that in the name of data localisation, the bill mandates complete mirroring of data within the country, allowing the Government to gain access to any database of the citizens.
He argued that any strong data protection law should protect the data privacy of the people and make sure that they have ultimate control over it.
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