Data Privacy and Protection

Earlier this August (August 8, 2022), the Government of India notified the Passenger Name Record Information Regulations, 2022 ("PNR Regulations") in order to provide a defined framework for collection of specified details relating to international passengers travelling by air. ......

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology ("MEITY") has published the draft National Data Governance Framework Policy ("NDGFP") on May 26, 2022 which aims to transform and modernize government data collection and management processes. The purpose of the NDGFP outlined in the draft is to enable an artificial intelligence and data led research and start-up ecosystem in India by creating a large repository of datasets. ......

On February 21, 2022, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) published the draft India Data Accessibility and Use Policy on its website. The draft of the policy was made available for the purpose of inviting public feedback till mid-March, 2022. Since then, the policy has garnered considerable attention and critical acclaim. ......

The Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 ("JPC") was constituted on December 11, 2019, for the study and consideration of the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 ("2019 Bill"). The JPC was initially expected to present its report to Parliament during the Budget Session of 2020, however, after being granted an extension of 2 years, the JPC tabled its report ("JPC Report") in both houses of Parliament on December 16, 2021. ......

"You become a celebrity, not because of your work or what you do, but because you have no privacy", said Lisa Kudrow. Celebrities across the globe are faced with the daunting task of keeping their personal lives away from public scrutiny. ......

If the 21st century has been defined by the information age, data then is the new global currency. Clive Humbly, who built Clubcard, the world’s first supermarket loyalty scheme a decade ago, used the metaphor ‘Data is the new Oil’, to explain how data is worthless, when left ‘unrefined’. Much like diamonds, only once it is mined and analysed does it create either extraordinary value, or can be manipulated into a dangerous tool. ......

The recent months have amply shown us the importance of developing and maintaining healthcare infrastructure, whether digital or physical. Each day has seen us critically scan the statistics to try and understand the impact of the novel coronavirus ("Covid 19") on our towns and cities. The Government, in its turn, launched several apps and services such as Aarogya Setu, to control and monitor the spread of the disease. ......

Arbitration that was once supposed to be the panacea for the woes of litigation, has now become complex and expensive due to several factors, such as ‘multiplicity’ of tribunals, awards, references and challenges arising among the same parties, contracts or series of contracts. Multiple arbitrations before different tribunals has led to the increase in “multiplicity of arbitral tribunals”. ......

Amidst the clamour of “data is the new oil” and “data is the new currency”, the Indian government is now looking to regulate the collection, storage, access and usage of personal as well as non-personal data. There are concerns that the Indian government as well as authorities all over the world are struggling to resolve. ......