The draft rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill (DPDP) are expected to be released within a month for public consultation, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters here on Monday.

He said the final draft of the rules was ‘worked upon and reviewed last week’, and is expected to be released in the public domain within a month with a few tweaks.

“It is significantly in an advanced stage...we had the ground work and now it is complete. Very soon, we will have the consultation process started. There will be a minimum window of 45 days and maximum 60 days and that can be extendable (for final rules to be published)...The framework is ready, and the draft rules for consultation are expected to be released within a month,” Vaishnaw told reporters.

The language of the rules will be simple and will be framed after consultation, before it is sent to the Parliament for implementation.

The DPDP Bill was approved by Parliament on August 9, last year, around six years after the Supreme Court declared the ‘Right to Privacy’ as a fundamental right.

Provisions

The Act has provisions to curb the misuse of individual data by online platforms and introduces several compliance requirements for the collection and processing of personal data. In case of data breach, the rules list a penalty of up to ₹250 crore.

The Act, however, gives the Government powers to exempt State agencies from the law. The law applies to the processing of digital personal data in India, where personal data is either collected in digital or non-digital form and subsequently digitised.

It defines ‘personal data’ broadly to include any data about an individual, who is identifiable, or in relation to such data.

While introducing the Act, the Government had said that the rights of citizens will not be compromised irrespective of whether the data is stored in India or outside. Every sector will have very specific requirements and everybody, including intermediaries, has to follow the same principles.

Child protection

The DPDP Act also protects children and persons with disabilities. It defines a child as someone below the age of 18. Section 9 of the Act mandates verification and parental consent for minors before their data is processed.

The implementation process will also be based on ‘digital-by-design’ principle, and such a platform or portal will be created by MeitY’s in-house departments like the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and Digital India Corporation (DIC).

Meanwhile, on the Broadcasting Bill, Vaishnaw said that the government is ‘open-minded and flexible’, and it will act after extensive consultations.

“We are very open-minded and very flexible. There should be a very extensive consultation. We should look at first, the purpose of the law and whether or not we need a proper bill or regulation,” he said.

“The creative economy is a segment that is new and growing. Our intent is to encourage it, give it more opportunities to create new IP. We want this economy to flourish,” he added.

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