IT Ministry extends deadline for feedback on Digital Data Bill

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Saturday extended the last date for receipt of feedback and comments on the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, till January 2, 2023.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) published the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022, along with an Explanatory note, which was released by it on its website on November 18, 2022.

"Feedback from the public was sought by December 17, 2022. In response to the requests received from several stakeholders, the Ministry has decided to extend the last date for receipt of comments till January 2, 2023," said the Ministry.

The MeitY has been deliberating on various aspects of digital personal data and its protection, and has formulated a draft bill -- The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022.

The purpose of the draft bill is to provide for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognises both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process personal data for lawful purposes, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill frames out the rights and duties of the citizen ('Digital Nagrik') on one hand and the obligations to use collected data lawfully of the Data Fiduciary on the other hand.

The bill is based on the following principles around the data economy:
The bill will establish the comprehensive legal framework governing digital personal data protection in India. The bill provides for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognises the right of individuals to protect their personal data, societal rights and the need to process personal data for lawful purposes.