Lok Sabha passes Digital Data Protection Bill 2023: All you need to know

Introduced by Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnav on August 3, the Lok Sabha has now (Monday) passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023. The bill lays out certain rules and responsibilities for firms handling and processing digital data of users. Misuse of data or violation of the provisions may attract hefty penalties of up to Rs 250 crore. This is a revised bill that was approved by the cabinet last month.

What is the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023?

Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023 is a step towards ensuring the privacy and protection of users’ personal data. Thanks to the new bill, there’s now Data Protection Board (DPB) in the picture which will deal with concerns about data violations. Firms are now required to appoint a Data Protection Officer (DPO) in a company and share their contact details with users.

Furthermore, the bill also gives the central government the right to regulate the transfer of personal data to foreign countries. The bill introduces penalties ranging from Rs 50 crore to Rs 250 crore in case of violation of the rules. This comes after a few cases of data breaches including a recent SBI data breach where about 12,000 confidential records of the bank’s employees were made public on the internet.

Key highlights of the bill

— Entities handling or processing users’ data will have to guarantee complete protection even if the data is stored or processed on third-party servers.

— In case of a data breach, entities should immediately report it to the Data Protection Board (DPB) and affected users.

— Personal data of children and physically disabled persons should only be processed after taking permission, i.e. with the consent of guardians.

— Entities must appoint a Data Protection Officer and their contact details should be shared with users.

— Failing to follow any provisions or misusing/mishandling personal data, entities may have to pay fines ranging from Rs 50 crore to Rs 250 crore.