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techUK has signed a joint letter to India’s Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill.

Together with the Information Technology Council and 13 other international technology and business associations, techUK has sent a letter to India’s Joint Parliamentary Committee to amend the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill 2019 in order to truly uphold privacy protection and remove barriers to economic growth. In the letter, we commend the Government of India’s prioritisation of the tech sector and privacy of Indian citizens, but express concerns with its current approach to data protection in the PDP Bill.

 “We welcome the significant progress that the Government of India has made on the protection of personal data for Indian citizens. India has long been a global technology leader that creates and supplies goods and services to contribute to a productive, competitive, and innovative global economy and society,” the letter reads. “However, we are concerned that some provisions in the personal data protection bill would hamper the country’s economic growth, constrain the ability of companies operating in market to innovate, and in some cases potentially undermine the protection of Indian citizens’ privacy.”

The letter also raises concerns with regard to the approach to data localization, regulating non-personal data, and government access to both personal and non-personal data, the open-ended definition of sensitive personal data, and the lack of a definition for critical personal data.

“Privacy and user trust are central to our member companies’ businesses, and that commitment to privacy is fulfilled no matter where our user’s data is stored,” the letter reads. “Our companies operate at a global scale and the free flow of data across borders is fundamental to maintaining trust and providing the highest quality products and services. We are deeply concerned that the PDP Bill requires a copy of sensitive personal data to be stored in India even when conditions for its cross-border transfer are met, and that critical personal data cannot be transferred under any conditions.”

INDIA PDP BILL MULTIASSOCIATION LETTER_FINAL (PDF)