Sources said that the Prime Minister was keen that the law be passed during the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
With concerns over fool-proof arrangements for protection of data collected by various government and non-governmental agencies continuing to be at the centre of the ongoing Aadhaar debate, the Narendra Modi government has decided to bring in a stand-alone data protection law for the country.
Sources told DNA that a decision to bring a new law was taken at a high-level meeting last week, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi issued directions to the concerned department to work with the Union Home Ministry, Law Ministry, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the security establishment and other government organisations, including Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), to finalise the draft law at the earliest so that it can be taken to the Cabinet.
Sources said that the Prime Minister was keen that the law be passed during the ongoing Monsoon Session of the Parliament.
At the meeting, the Prime Minister was also given a power point presentation on the issues connected to the storage and safe-keeping of senstive personal data colelcted from the citizens or prepared by the governmental and non-governmental authorities.
Despite repeated demands and suggestions, India still doesn't have a stand-alone data protection law, with Section 43 of the Information Technology Act, 2011 being the only safeguard against misuse, leakage and negligent handling of the citizens' data by a body corporate.
But, experts have long felt that this clause is insufficient in dealing with the multiple issues involving safety of data collected by various agencies. One main issue is lack of legal remedies if personal data of individuals is leaked online.
A few months back, the issue of safety of data collected for Aadhaar took centrestage after the UIDAI filed a police complaint against a bank and some others for allegedly attempting unauthorised authentication by illegally storing Aadhaar biometrics.
Last month, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology issued fresh guidelines aimed at securing personal data held by various government departments.
Incidentally, on Wednesday, in a written reply to Parliament, Minister of State for Electronics and IT PP Chaudhary said about 210 websites of the central and state government departments had been found displaying personal details and Aadhaar numbers of beneficiaries.
He also said the UIDAI had taken note of the lapse and was now regularly monitoring the status to get the Aadhaar data removed from the websites.
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