IAMAI lauds government for 'industry-friendly' data protection bill

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At a time when Big Tech companies such as Meta, Amazon, Twitter, Google have sought clarifications regarding various provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill and hace even criticised the government for few of its provisions, industry body Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) on January 2 lauded the government for making the bill 'industry-friendly'.

IAMAI said that the bill has struck 'the right balance' between protecting interests of the data principals while leaving enough room for tech start-ups to innovate and grow.

The industry body, which has over 400 members comprising of Indian companies and MNCs, appreciated the more liberalised framework for cross-border data flows and the exclusion of non-personal data from the ambit of the DPDP Bill.

"IAMAI also appreciates that the Bill imposes only financial penalties for non-compliance as opposed to both financial and criminal penalties," a statement by the industry body said.

However, the industry body has also sought clarifications regarding timeline for implementing various provisions of the bill, and also for mechanisms for obtaining verifiable parental consent to process personal data of children.

"As the inclusion of specific timelines will provide a roadmap for the industry to better comply with the Bill, IAMAI has requested the government to clearly indicate reasonable timelines by which the various provisions of the DPDP will be implemented and to adopt a graded approach to prescribing such timelines," the industry body said.

This request is in line with clarifications also requested by industry bodies such Asia Internet Coalition and The Software Alliance which represents Big Tech companies such as Google, Microsoft and others.

Commenting on the Bill, Dr Subho Ray, president, IAMAI stated, “By following a deep and wide process of consultation including that of a joint parliamentary committee, excluding non-essential provisions, by making a clear commitment that no Rules exceeding the provisions of the Act would be made, and yet protecting the interests of the state, citizens and the digital economy, this Bill has possibly set up new standards of law-making”.