12 September 2017 / Government
Update: The Committee has released a whitepaper inviting comments by 31 January 2018.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has set up an expert committee to come up with draft data protection bill.
This nine member committee is chaired by former Supreme Court judge Justice BN Srikrishna and other members include:
Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey, Chief Executive Officer, Unique Identification Authority of India
Dr. Arghya Sengupta, Research Director, Vidhi Center For Legal Policy
Mrs. Aruna Sundararajan, Secretary, Department of Telecom
Professor Rajat Moona, Director, IIT-Raipur
Dr. Gulshan Rai, National Cyber Security Co-ordinator
Prof. Rishikesha T Krishnan, Director, IIM-Indore
Ms. Rama Vedashree, CEO, Data Security Council of India
Ajay Kumar, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
A memorandum dated 31st July 2017 released by the Union Minister for the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology mentioned the formation of the committee. It stated that the committee will be responsible for identifying key data protection issues in India and would recommend methods of addressing them. The committee will make suggestions to the Central Government regarding principles to be considered for data protection in India and will draft a data protection bill.
Additionally, it mentioned that the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology shall, in consultation with the chairperson and members, collect necessary information and provide it to the committee within eight weeks of the date of the memorandum. The committee would then start its deliberations on the subject. The committee has to submit their report as expeditiously as possible. The expenditure of the members are to be borne by their respective departments and ministeries.
Right to Privacy under UDHR and ICCPR
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights entered into force on 23 March 1976.
The question of whether or not there is a Fundamental Right to Privacy in India was referred to a nine-Judge Bench by a five-Judge Bench on 18 July 2017. The question had reached