Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Nov.22: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) endorsed the drafted report on the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill 2019 after a deliberation of nearly two years.
According to sources, the report, along with the PDP Bill 2019, will now be brought to Parliament for deliberation during the Winter Session.
Several MPs, including three Congress leaders, Jairam Ramesh, Gaurav Gogoi, and Manish Tewari, raised disagreement at the JPC’s last meeting.
Several other opposition members of parliament expressed their displeasure with the government’s last-minute modifications to the report.
According to sources, one of the concerns voiced by opposition members was how the centre will now have the option to exempt any government agency from the Act entirely without getting parliamentary approval.
Members requested that the provisions be less ‘sweeping’ and that there be fewer ‘automatic’ exemptions.
MPs also broached the possibility of lowering the penalty clause, which would have held digital firms liable in the event of a breach.
Aside from the aforementioned, the opposition has criticised the weakening of regulation of social media platforms.
“Finally, it is done. The Joint Committee of Parliament has adopted its report on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019. There are dissent notes, but that is in the best spirit of parliamentary democracy. Sadly, such examples are few and far between under the Modi regime,” Jairam Ramesh tweeted.
Finally, it is done. The Joint Committee of Parliament has adopted its report on the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019. There are dissent notes, but that is in the best spirit of parliamentary democracy. Sadly, such examples are few and far between under the Modi regime. https://t.co/QV2Oega4m7
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 22, 2021
Interestingly, BJP MPs have questioned the portions of the law that allow social media corporations to alter or improve user content, therefore making them secondary writers, which is against IT norms.
“While complimenting @OfficeofPPC for his leadership of the Joint Committee of Parliament on Data Protection, I was constrained to submit a dissent note as I do not agree with the Fundamental design and Construction of the bill,” Tewari tweeted.
https://twitter.com/ManishTewari/status/1462724588173856777
https://twitter.com/ManishTewari/status/1462725313033486342
Mr. Ravi Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and Information Technology, introduced the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 in the Lok Sabha on December 11, 2019. The bill aims to ensure that personal data of persons is protected, and it establishes a Data Protection Authority to do so.
