MPs want more checks on govt

NEW DELHI: Several MPs cutting across political lines want government’s powers under the proposed data privacy law to be curtailed, recommending in a joint parliamentary panel that principles of necessity and proportionality – part of the draft released by an expert committee but dropped in the bill introduced in Parliament – be restored under sections in which the government can access personal data without a person’s consent.

Congress‘ Jairam Ramesh, Manish Tewari and Gaurav Gogoi, Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra, Biju Janata Dal’s Bhartruhari Mahtab and Amar Patnaik, BSP’s Ritesh Pandey, and Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde, are in favour of limiting government’s access to personal data. BJP’s Rajeev Chandrasekhar, on contrary, wanted new grounds to be added for government to process personal data.

The concerns relate to clause 35 of the bill, which allows the central government, where it “is satisfied that it is necessary or expedient” to access people’s data over reasons such as safeguarding national security. This section drew a large number of amendments, HT has learnt.

Total 228 amendments, mostly by Opposition, have been submitted to joint panel reviewing the bill. These include renaming the bill as Protection of Privacy of Personal Data Bill, a timeline for enacting it, keeping anonymised personal data out of the purview of the bill.

Some of the key concerns raised by the members relate to Clause 35 of the bill, which lays down the ground for powers to the government to access people’s data over reasons such as safeguarding national security. This section drew a large number of amendments, HT learnt.