Govt to push for passing data protection bill in Lok Sabha on August 7

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill was tabled in the Lok Sabha on August 3

Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw on August 7 will move for the consideration and subsequent passage of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill in the Lok Sabha, a house bulletin said.

This comes after Vaishnaw introduced the bill in the lower house of the Parliament on August 3 amid protests from Opposition MPs who alleged that provisions of the data protection bill go against the Right to Privacy. They also urged that it be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT and Communications before it is voted in the two floors of the houses.

"Shri (sic) Ashwini Vaishnaw to move that the Bill to provide for the processing of digital personal data.. be taken into consideration... Also to move that the Bill be passed," the bulletin read.

If the bill is passed in the Lok Sabha, it will then go the Rajya Sabha, where again, if it's passed, the Bill will be enacted into a law. Currently, Bharatiya Janata Party has a majority in the LS, but lacks a clear majority in the RS.

Moreover, a no-confidence motion against the Modi government is set to begin on August 8, where all business of the Parliament will remain suspended. The Monsoon Session ends on August 11.

Moneycontrol had earlier reported how the industry, expecting that the bill will be passed in both Houses of the Parliament, has begun lobbying the government to initiate an open stakeholder consultation process for rule-making in the DPDP Bill.

If the DPDP Bill in its current form provides a framework of the legislation, the rule-making process will shape its contours. For instance, the current bill says that the government will list a number of countries where data cannot be transferred. The rule making processes will define on what basis a country can be "black listed" in the bill.