Data draft bill tries to balance ease of doing business, privacy and national security: Jaishankar

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar (file pic)

India has tried to find a balance between the ease of doing business in the digital domain, privacy and national security in its draft data protection bill, external affairs minister S Jaishankar said on November 29.

"India has put out the draft legislation and invited views. There will be debates on what is the right balance. It will be discussed in Parliament," he said.

Speaking at the Carnegie Global Technology Summit, Jaishankar stressed on the importance of "trusted geographies"—countries with which India would be comfortable to trade in technology and export its data.

Earlier this month, the government unveiled the much-awaited and revised digital personal data protection legislation that limits the storage of Indian citizens' data to certain trusted geographies. It, however, doesn't specify which countries are trusted geographies.

To reign in the data collection, protection and processing practices of tech companies, the bill also includes penalties of up to Rs 500 crore for non-compliance with the rules.

"We have to stop pretending that there is something neutral about technology. Technology is no more neutral than economics. As more and more things are tech-driven, there is a very strong political connotation that is inbuilt," the foreign minister,  a former diplomat, said.

"Last few weeks and months have shown that technology and export controls are still relevant debates."

Jaishankar said that the sociology of countries that give India access to technology and who is a potential market would be an important consideration in choosing partners in the technology domain.

India had to shore up technology manufacturing and the production-linked incentive scheme was an important step in that direction, the minister said.