Strict data laws should fix accountability for leaks

It will take more than a privacy law to address Justice Chandrachud’s concerns

Expressing his concerns about the aggregation of personal data given by individuals for commercial purposes, Justice D Y Chandrachud said on Thursday: “The 1.3 billion Indians may be poor, but we are a goldmine of commercial information.” Breach of privacy and misuse of data is a growing concern across the world today. The Facebook-cambridge Analytica controversy has taken the debate beyond the misuse of large databases for individual surveillance.

Lack of a well-defined institutional framework regarding use and collection of data has created important concerns. The biggest issue is concentration of economic power which access to data is creating. Internet giants such as Facebook and Google are extremely difficult to compete with in today’s world. While they do not charge their consumers directly and could even offer to subsidise them, as was the case during the net neutrality debate involving Facebook’s free basic services, they stand to earn a lot through advertising on their platforms. The data they possess also lends itself to commercial use by third parties who can access it illegally as well. Once compromised, there is no limit to commercial exploitation of such databases. Unless there are strict laws that fix accountability for leaks with the companies which possess such data, they are unlikely to take efforts to protect it. It takes money to secure data and companies are always trying to maximise profits and minimise costs.

A bigger problem is the fact that people whose information is stored in these databases and those who use them might not be aware of the consequences of their actions. This is more likely to be the case in a country like India, where education levels let alone awareness about digital technology are poor. Government departments and individuals have been found wanting in adhering to data privacy practices. It will take much more than a privacy law to take care of Justice Chandrachud’s concerns.