Government Proposes To Set Up India Data Management Office

The Indian government is proposing the setting up of an India Data Management Office (IDMO), through The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and under the Digital India Corporation, that will frame, manage and periodically review and revise the National Data Governance Framework Policy (NDGFP).

The office will address methods and rules to ensure that non-personal and anonymized data from both government and private entities are safely accessible by the research and innovation ecosystem.

Non-personal data is any set of data that does not contain personally identifiable information.

The Centre had earlier on two occasions tried to draft policy around data protection. Firstly,the Ministry of Roads, Transport and Highways had come out with a ‘bulk data sharing policy’ to monetise citizens’ data garnered from vehicle registration certificates and driving licences. However, the policy was slammed by multiple quarters and rolled back in a year. Secondly, the India Data Accessibility and Use Policy 2022 for governing citizens’ data was put on hold due to criticism for its plan to monetise non-personal data of citizens,