DATA PROTECTION, A RIGHT?
Kaushal Shah
International Commercial & Corporate Lawyer and founder at Kaushal Shah & Associates
Efficient management of data in the age of Big Data is information privacy which necessitates a robust data protection. Data Protection refers to the set of privacy laws, policies and procedures that aim to minimize intrusion into one's privacy caused by the collection, storage and dissemination of personal data.
All relevant laws in India dealing with data protection are Information Technology Act, 2000 and Indian Contract Act, 1872 which provides a measure of legal protection of personal information. However, penalizes the offender for a three year imprisonment or a maximum fine of Rs. 5 lakh which is only applicable to corporate entities. Businesses and organizations are creating and using data at unprecedented rates. With this boom in Big Data comes challenges and problems in information and data protection.
The rise of mobility and ever expanding security perimeters makes it necessary for companies to find data protection solutions that secure data from both internal and external threats placing the focus on sensitive data as it travels within and outside of enterprise networks.
India presently does not have any express legislation governing data protection or privacy. Constitution of India does not patently grant the fundamental right to privacy. A codified law on the subject of ‘Data Protection’ is likely to be introduced in India in near future.
Privacy has both positive and negative content. The negative content restrains the state from committing an intrusion upon the life and personal liberty of a citizen. Its positive content imposes an obligation on the state to take all necessary measures to protect the privacy of a citizen.
Information is, for instance, beginning to be collected on a regular basis through statutory requirements and through e-governance projects. An opinion on privacy standing alone as one of the factors to be voted in as a right has still not been a concluder talk by law.
Thus if you look at data as a private property of citizens, such data is required to be protected under the legal framework of the country, yet arising another question.