Right to Privacy and Data Protection in the Digital Age – Preservation, Control and Implementation of Laws in India

Abstract

The development in the technology has rendered many advantages to the human race. However, the advancement of the technology is now putting lots of our rights at stake. With the start of the digital age and inclusion of data which is routinely collected and traded in the new economy, the right to privacy is becoming an issue. The advancement in the technology has given rise to other criminal acts like Identity theft, pestering, online victimization etc. The personal data submitted by the persons in social media, marketing, communication surveillance companies, Government and private stakeholders and other sites can often be misused. In India there are no specific law for the collection of data, preservation, monitoring, intercepting, obtaining, analysis, using, retaining etc. The present paper is an attempt to study the issues involving right to privacy and data analysis in the digital age. This paper explores the issues of privacy by analyzing the situations wherein the data collected by the people can be misused and sometimes can be used against the person who had disclosed it. The paper is also an attempt to study the efficacy of the Information Technology Act along with other existing laws regarding right to privacy and how far they provide provisions for data protection. Since, the data are collected by the public and private sector equally thus, application of laws to each of these sectors will be studied and compared. Recently, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has appointed experts headed by the former Supreme Court Judge B.N. Srikrishna to draft a data protection law. A draft Bill was made which is called the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018. However, it could not be introduced thus ultimately on 11th December 2019 the Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 was introduced in the Lok Sabha. The present paper is an attempt to study the Bill and how far it can achieve right to privacy and data protection. It will also compare the Draft Bill of 2018 with the Bill of 2019. Thus, over all the paper aims at analyzing the areas of data protection laws in India, the lacuna and what changes can be brought for the proper implementation of the existing as well as upcoming legislations.