On Wednesday, 4 August 2022 the government officials sprung a surprise in the Parliament over the much-debated data protection bill. As per the historic judgment issued by the supreme court in August 2017 to pass the bill without compromising the Right to Privacy the members will soon come up with a revised bill. The original Bill has culminated 5 years ago after the formation of the Justice Srikrishna Committee. Later it was presented in the Lok Sabha followed by the Joint Committee of Parliament in December 2019. The agencies took 2 years to propose recommendations to draft the bill towards the end of 2021.
The rectifications suggested by the Joint Committee of Parliament warranted a completely fresh bill. Ashwini Vaishnav (telecom minister) in his interview with TOI said that the draft of the new bill has been finalized and he will soon make it public for further consultations. The withdrawal has been suggested because the bill has a total of 99 sections where JCP recommended eighty-one rectifications. Out of which twelve recommendations are major he further added.
The bill needs a progressive mindset as it is going to affect the stakeholders and global social media giants that hold private information of the people. A comprehensive framework needs to be developed so that no lobbying is found later.
The bill was criticized by the Global internet giants like Amazon, Google, and Meta (which owns WhatsApp, Instagram, and Facebook). The Bill is also criticized in the country by the non-executive directors and independent directors. They demand that the proposed data law should further add strict criminal and legal proceedings against the electronics hardware and social media companies who are found guilty of violating the bill.
