Sansad TV Perspective: Data Protection

In the series Sansad TV Perspective, we bring you an analysis of the discussion featured on the insightful programme ‘Perspective’ on Sansad TV, on various important topics affecting India and also the world. This analysis will help you immensely for the IAS exam, especially the mains exam, where a well-rounded understanding of topics is a prerequisite for writing answers that fetch good marks.

In this article, we feature the discussion on the topic of Data Protection.

Anchor: Vishal Dahiya

Participants: 

1. Abhishek Singh, CEO, NeGD, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), GOI
2. Prof. Huzur Saran, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi
3. Khushbu Jain, Advocate, Cyber Laws

Context:

“Data is the new oil”, this phrase coined by Clive Humby forms the central dogma of the digital world in the present era. With the rising influx of technology and innovation there is a simultaneous increase in the threats on data protection. We live in a world that perceives technology as a revolution in every aspect of life but one cannot be indifferent to the consequences that question the personal liberty, dignity and security of every individual with the emergence of cybersecurity threats and cyber crimes. Therefore a legislative intervention on data protection is the need of the hour and this makes data protection a context of essence. 

What is Data Protection?

• Data protection can be defined as the act of protecting data that involves the process of collection and dissemination of data and technology ensuring privacy within a legal framework. 
• Data protection is intended to form a balance between an individual’s privacy rights and use of data for business purposes.
• The image depicts the growing concern over certain initiatives that were breaching the privacy of the individuals.

The Nine National Principles of Privacy:

A panel headed by Justice A.P. Shah recommended the introduction of a law to protect the privacy of personal information in the public and private domains. The report formulated the nine principles of privacy that included the following:

1. Prior notice of collection of information must be given to the individuals.
2. Individuals should be given a choice to agree or disagree to give information.
3. Information pertaining only to the purpose identified must be collected.
4. Any change in the purpose must be notified to the individuals and the information collected must be destroyed after the purpose is over.
5. There must be options for correction, deletion and changes given to the individuals.
6. Security safeguards against loss, unauthorized access and destruction of information must be ensured.
7. Transparency should be maintained by using intelligible forms with clear and plain language.
8. The data collectors must be accountable for complying with privacy measures such as audits. 
9. Personal information to third parties should only be disclosed and made public after the consent of the individuals whose data will be used. 

Privacy in the Indian Language:

• The right to privacy was added as a fundamental right as an outcome of the Puttaswamy Case in 2017.
• This paved the way for upholding the very expression of “ dignity of individual” enshrined in the Preamble of the Indian Constitution. 

Data Protection laws across the globe:

• The European Union has the General Data Protection Regulation that aims to give individuals control over their personal data by using the feature of cookie preferences. 
• Modernization of the Data Protection “Convention 108” was introduced in 2018 by the Council of Europe to address the challenges related to privacy and data protection.
• The OECD countries issued revised guidelines for the protection of privacy and transborder flow of personal data. This aimed at preventing the human rights violations such as unlawful storage of personal data, inaccurate data and disclosure of data.

Important Terms Reflecting Challenges of Data Protection:

• Cyber security – It is the concept that consists of innovative solutions that provide an assurance of protection against cyber attacks. Cyber attacks generally include accessing, changing, destroying sensitive information and can be associated with money laundering and terror activities. 
• Phishing – This is a type of cyber threat that involves fraudulent emails in the disguise of reputed sources that aim to steal data like credit card numbers and login information. It is the most common form of cyberattack that is prevalent in India and the rest of the world.
• Ransomware – It is malicious software that is developed to carry out extortion of money by blocking access to files and important applications in the computer system unless the desired amount is paid. According to a Google report, India is at sixth place among 140 countries to be affected by ransomware.
• Malware – This a software that gathers unauthorized access to a computer system and damages it.
• Social Engineering – This is a cyber attack strategy to trick an individual to reveal sensitive and confidential information. This can be linked with any of the abovementioned cyber security threats. 

Also Read: Pegasus Spyware

An Overview of Present Scenario:

• In accordance with a UN report on Roadmap for Digital Cooperation 2020 more than 7000 data breaches were reported in 2019 disclosing about 15 billion records.
• The data breaches will cause an estimated loss of $5 trillion if no action is taken to reduce cyber crimes.
• The NCRB reported 50,035 cybercrimes in India in the year 2020 with an increase of 12% from the previous year.
• 59% of the Indian adults were victims of cyber crimes as per the report by cybersecurity software company, Norton Lifelock. The company surveyed over 10,000 adults in 10 countries like Australia, France, Germany, Italy, New Zealand, Netherlands, UK, Japan, India and the US. About 108 million Americans suffered as victims of cyber crime within a year.

 Government of India Initiatives:

1. The Data Protection Bill – The skeletal framework of this landmark bill was based on the recommendations of Justice B. N. Srikrishna Committee.

• It was introduced in the Lok Sabha in 2019 and was referred to the joint select committee

Read more about the Personal Data Protection Bill in the linked article.

2. Cyber Surakshit Bharat

 The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology organized the 24th CISO (Chief Information Security Officers) deep dive training program.

      Aim of the program:

• In order to spread awareness about cyber security and establish a strong ecosystem to tackle the emerging cyber security challenges, the National E-Governance division of the MeitY conducted a six-day drive to train the security officers and frontline IT officials across the ministries and departments, government and semi-government organizations, public sector undertakings, banks, technical wings of police and security forces.

The Training Drive: Important Facts

• The training program on cyber security involved participation from both the government and private sector.
• The training will be provided online for 6 days. 
• The program emphasized the important areas of ISMS (Information security management system) standards, mobile security, data security, identity protection, cryptography and other cyber security products in India. 

   About Cyber Surakshit Bharat: 

• This initiative was launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 2018 to tackle the progressive spread of cyber attacks in the country.
• This initiative is the first public-private partnership of its kind.
• Under this initiative, experts of the IT industry and MeitY collaborate with organizations like CDAC (Centre for Development of Advanced Computing) , CERT-In (Indian Computer Emergency Response Team), NIC (National Informatics Centre) and STQC (Standardization Testing and Quality Certification) as knowledge partners in the training program.

Significance:

• In a world with advancing technology the emerging issue of cyber security is a major concern and initiatives like Cyber Surakshit Bharat play an exemplary role in promoting awareness on cyber security. In a country like India, awareness is an essential tool to resolve many challenges.
• This initiative offers guidelines and policies related to cyber security along with best practices to learn from successes and failures.
• A massive impetus is provided to the vision of ‘Digital India’ that establishes an empowered and equipped ecosystem ensuring cyber security.

Privacy and Data Protection – Way Forward:

• The concepts of data protection and privacy attract extensive debate with a prime focus on implementing the nine principles of privacy.
• Experts envisage an effective regulatory framework to ensure data protection.
• Besides, the data protection bill is surrounded by allegations of giving the government the supreme power to access personal data and exempting certain information of the government to be shared with the citizens on the grounds of privacy. 
• It is believed that the personal liberty of the citizens must be protected from arbitrary surveillance by the government or any political outfit. 
• Given a pragmatic approach, the issue of privacy has a social flavor added to it. For example there are several awareness programmes that provide an early warning to the people using social media platforms not to share their personal details.
• To witness fruitful outcomes of regimes of data protection the citizens must be cautious in sharing their private information on social media platforms. 
• One of the experts emphasized the introduction of Right to be Forgotten, even after consent to share information has been given, into the legislative framework of India. The right to be forgotten can be observed in California for individuals who have attended the age of 18.
• Therefore, privacy and data protection are topical concerns of the globe having special relevance for a country like India that houses its aspirational goals within the futuristic vision of Digital India. Therefore it is necessary to balance the knowledge and power equation which are irrepressible twins as penned by Michel Foucault. 
• Privacy is now a sacrosanct concept that demands effective policy intervention and a well defined regulatory framework so that the Digital Revolution in India achieves milestones in an unhampered manner.

Read more summaries of Perspective in the link.

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