President Murmu Approves Digital Personal Data Protection Bill

President Droupadi Murmu reportedly signed the 'Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill' late Friday.

The DPDP bill was passed unanimously in the Rajya Sabha this Wednesday while the lower house passed the bill on Monday by a voice vote amid opposition members seeking a debate on the Manipur issue, according to media reports. 

The Ministry of Electronics & IT underlined the Bill provides for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognises both the rights of the individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process such personal data for lawful purposes and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.

It also stated that individuals will have four rights under the bill:

• The right to access information about personal data processed
• The right to correction and erasure of data
• The right to grievance redressal
• The right to nominate a person to exercise rights in case of death or incapacity

Furthermore, according to the Ministry exemptions provided in the Bill:

• For notified agencies, in the interest of security, sovereignty, public order, etc.
• For research, archiving, or statistical purposes
• For startups or other notified categories of Data Fiduciaries
• To enforce legal rights and claims
• To perform judicial or regulatory functions
• To prevent, detect, investigate or prosecute offenses
• To process in India the personal data of non-residents under foreign contract
• For approved merger, demerger etc.
• To locate defaulters and their financial assets etc.