Hyderabad: Rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 to be notified soon

Hyderabad: S Krishnan, secretary to the government of India, Ministry of Electronics and Information technology, has disclosed that the process of notifying rules of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 was in its final stages of clearance, and that soon the government would be notifying the rules.

He launched a book titled “Privacy Right and Data Protection- Trust, Overreach and Erosion,” written by Dr S Chakravarthy, honorary visiting professor, Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI), during a ceremony held at ASCI campus in Hyderabad on Saturday, November 16.

Delivering his speech at the book launch, he said that the act and its rules would support the Justice Puttaswamy case, which underlined the right to privacy as a fundamental right derived from life and personal liberty under Article 21.

“The principle of data minimization is also addressed in the act. Section 6 (1) advises against unnecessary data collection. While data collection can have positive uses, such as forming policies and fostering innovation (e.g., Google Maps and traffic information), we must balance this with the need for privacy protection. This act strikes this balance well, ensuring both innovation and protection,” he noted.

Sharing personal examples of privacy breaches, Krishnan emphasised that levels of protection were needed not only against bonafide mistakes but also against malafide intentions.

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He said that the amount of information we share on social media is often voluntary and that many do not consider the implications of putting personal details into the public domain.

He felt that valuing privacy is important from multiple perspectives, and it begins with behaviour and fundamentally starts with cyber hygiene.

He said that though India has many laws, many were rarely implemented. He stressed that just having laws wouldn’t protect us and that awareness of what needs to be done is crucial.

“This book aims to raise such awareness. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act was enacted as a simple piece of legislation, making it accessible and understandable for everyone. It’s not the severity of the punishment but the certainty of it that is important,” he underlined.

A panel discussion was held on the occasion, with Prof Srikrishna Deva Rao, vice‐chancellor, NALSAR, TNC Ranga Rajan, former judge, AP High Court, and M Gopalakrishnan, former chairman, SCOPE, being part of the panel.

Dr N Ramesh Kumar, director general, of ASCI, and K Padmanabhaiah, chairman, of ASCI, were also present on the occasion.

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