Opposition MPs allege DPDP Bill violates Right to Privacy, urge it to be sent to IT Committee

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in the Parliament on August 3

Opposition MPs in the Lok Sabha protested the introduction of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) bill 2023 in Parliament, alleging that the bill goes against the Right to Privacy judgment. They specifically pointed out the wide range of exemptions that the bill provides to government agencies.

In the Parliament on August 3, after Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw moved for leave to introduce the DPDP bill, opposition MPs including Congress's Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, and National Congress Party's Supriya Sule protested against the bill.

Congress' Shashi Tharoor said, "We have repeatedly requested the minister (Ashwini Vaishnaw) to take the committee (Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT and Communications) into confidence. It is a matter of disappointment, to the best of my knowledge, the committee has not been asked to study this bill, which has been repeatedly modified by the government and it is brought in its third iteration to this house."

"Given the vast number of objection you have heard, I would urge the bill be sent to a committee to be proper examination as a new bill. The three different versions do not match," Tharoor said.

On August 1, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT and Communications tabled a report endorsing the DPDP bill, despite Minister of State for MeitY Rajeev Chandrasekhar stating that the bill had not been referred to a committee.

“This bill cannot be introduced as a financial bill. It requires serious consideration by a joint parliamentary committee. It is in complete contradiction of the Right to Privacy Act in SC. It divides the bill into two parts - applicable in full force for non-governmental organisation, and exemptions for goverment," Congress' Tewari said.

In response, Vaishnaw clarified that DPDP bill was not being introduced as "a money bill but a general bill". "Government is ready to debate on every aspect of the bill," he said.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Congress' Chowdury said, "We are opposing this kind of sinister motive. The bill by amending the RTI, wants to introduce an era of corruption, because new personal data, like assets and liabilities, educational qualification of corrupt government functionary cannot be brought under RTI." The DPDP Bill, apart from bringing in processes that would regulate processing of personal data, also seeks to amend the RTI Act.

NCP's Supriya Sule said that the bill will lead to "excessive centralisation of all data".

Revolutionary Socialist Party's NK Premachandran claimed that with this bill basic fundamental rights will "be taken away". "It totally violates the Right to Privacy," he said.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen's Asaduddin Owaisi said that the bill will create a "surveillance state", termed it as "anti-woman" as only "one in three women use internet".