Economic Survey | Proposed citizen’s data framework is about public welfare, private profit and puts India at risk

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If you do not like the concept of Aadhaar because of data privacy concerns, hold your breath. Aadhaar is just the beginning if the proposals in the Economic Survey are implemented.

In a whole chapter devoted to data – termed the ‘new oil’ by the Modi government earlier – the Survey details a framework for collection, storage and utilisation of data of the country’s citizens.

Among many other usages of data, the Survey proposes to build a National Health Registry that would be accessible by healthcare professionals using citizen’s Aadhaar which will also have databases for hospitals and public health centres, case histories, details of medical syndromes, among other useful things. Another ideas is a proposed National Scholarship Portal.

The idea is for the government to invest in collection, storage and analysis of data that will help it in framing “evidence-based policy” to ensure “ease of living” for its citizens, initiate better targeted welfare schemes and bring “greater accountability in public schemes” which, in turn, would result in better governance. Moreover, such a framework will always comply with the upcoming “privacy law” that is inspired by the General Data Protection Regulations of the European Union. The Bill is also being tabled in Parliament in the ongoing session.

Going by the above facts, every Indian should be happy to divulge every bit of information that the government may ask for. If data can do only good for the country’s welfare and public good, and the data are protected with a robust privacy law, people should have nothing to worry about.

But dangers lurk.

The Survey has mentioned that, “the private sector may be granted access to select databases for commercial use. Consistent with the notion of data as a public good, there is no reason to preclude commercial use of this data for profit”.

Why does the government want to monetise its citizens’ data in the first place?

According to the Survey, the data revolution envisioned is going to cost funds and the government wants to monetise “part of the generated data” to reduce burden on government finances.

Of course, it won’t be a free for all. There will be safeguards and data would be anonymized”, the Survey said.

But if the fears around Aadhaar and the examples of data leaks are any precedent, citizens do have a cause to worry.

In a fast changing technological world, it is not always ease to protect digital information even if the Survey notes optimistically that “fortunately, stringent technological mechanisms exist to safeguard data privacy and confidentiality even while allowing the private sector to benefit from the data.”

Once the government sells data (without getting into how much and what exactly) to the private sector firms, it will have no control in the end use of the data. The survey itself noted that analytics agencies may be able to come out with insights that would potentially help private sector firms. That’s all fine, but it could intrude on citizen’s right to privacy.

What’s interesting is that the Economic Survey does not exclude anything in the private sector. This could mean even foreign-funded firms, or consulting agencies who help foreign companies to enter Indian market, may easily buy data of Indian citizens which may at times include sensitive information. A foreign-funded firm may be partly owned by a foreign government, or a state-owned firm. And, availability of Indian citizens’ data to them is not a desirable thing, to say least.