In this op-ed for The Financial Express, Vibhav Mariwala, Senior Analyst, and Nikita Kwatra, Associate at IDFC Institute argue that in the absence of a personal data protection bill, regulating digital and public health surveillance are a top priority for MeitY and MoHW. Excerpts below:
“The government will use disease surveillance to monitor and control the spread of the infection. But with no legal provisions regulating collection and use of patients’ data, the civil liberties of Indian citizens, specifically the right to privacy, remain unprotected.”
“The absence of a fit-for-purpose data protection law—the IT Act, 2000, is certainly not that—makes it impossible to know what rights are available to citizens. The absence of a common understanding of these rights can also lead to contrasting interpretations in case of dispute. Without a legal framework there are also no disincentives for data fiduciaries to collect personal data unlawfully as there is no penalty for non-compliance with the National Digital Health Mission guidelines.”
Read the full article here
Note: This work was done by the author/s when they were a part of the IDFC Institute and is republished here with permission.
