Data Privacy and Protection

The Joint Parliamentary Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 ("JPC") was constituted on December 11, 2019, for the study and consideration of the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 ("2019 Bill"). The JPC was initially expected to present its report to Parliament during the Budget Session of 2020, however, after being granted an extension of 2 years, the JPC tabled its report ("JPC Report") in both houses of Parliament on December 16, 2021. ......

"You become a celebrity, not because of your work or what you do, but because you have no privacy", said Lisa Kudrow. Celebrities across the globe are faced with the daunting task of keeping their personal lives away from public scrutiny. ......

If the 21st century has been defined by the information age, data then is the new global currency. Clive Humbly, who built Clubcard, the world’s first supermarket loyalty scheme a decade ago, used the metaphor ‘Data is the new Oil’, to explain how data is worthless, when left ‘unrefined’. Much like diamonds, only once it is mined and analysed does it create either extraordinary value, or can be manipulated into a dangerous tool. ......

The recent months have amply shown us the importance of developing and maintaining healthcare infrastructure, whether digital or physical. Each day has seen us critically scan the statistics to try and understand the impact of the novel coronavirus ("Covid 19") on our towns and cities. The Government, in its turn, launched several apps and services such as Aarogya Setu, to control and monitor the spread of the disease. ......

Arbitration that was once supposed to be the panacea for the woes of litigation, has now become complex and expensive due to several factors, such as ‘multiplicity’ of tribunals, awards, references and challenges arising among the same parties, contracts or series of contracts. Multiple arbitrations before different tribunals has led to the increase in “multiplicity of arbitral tribunals”. ......

Amidst the clamour of “data is the new oil” and “data is the new currency”, the Indian government is now looking to regulate the collection, storage, access and usage of personal as well as non-personal data. There are concerns that the Indian government as well as authorities all over the world are struggling to resolve. ......

How many times have all of us promptly shared personal information such as our name, age, mobile number, email address, home address, date of birth and other information that can personally identify us? We have shared such information in restaurants, shopping malls, feedback forms and numerous other such places. ...

The much anticipated Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019("Bill") finally gathered the Cabinet's approval on December 04, 2019, therefore setting the stage for it to be tabled in front of the Parliament in the current winter session....

The twentieth century rock icon, Jim Morrison, reportedly once said, “The most important kind of freedom is to be what you really are.” Although it was said in another context, Morrison’s quote reinforces the significance of rights that persons have in protecting their individuality, and the traits and characteristics associated with their person. This is where the notion of ‘personality rights’, as we define it in legal parlance, comes in....