Remember the Indian Data Protection Rules were leaked sometime back?
From Abhivardhan, our Chairperson
I am well aware that the January 3, 2025 Version of the Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 have arrived for public scrutiny, and feedback.
Now, I know a lot of law firms, and lawyers have provided a breakdown of the Rules, and that's okay. I have nothing against it.
However, I would like to take some precious time with my colleagues to give an open-access, detailed analysis.
As a legal consultant, I do not believe in misleading people. To the best of knowledge, I would take my sweet time to be the slowest in this rat race, to come up with the decent detailed take, which might help.
Why? I think my initial glance says the rules are well-drafted, self-explanatory on a lot of counts. This is why citizens who do not practice or consult law, should also read, and see if they have any feedback to offer. Of course it's upon the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology to decide if their feedback makes sense or not.
That being said, I came across an interesting statement by MeiTY which we should have a look at. They state:
"The submissions will be held in fiduciary capacity in MeitY and shall not be disclosed to any one at any stage, enabling persons to submit feedback/comments freely without any hesitation. A consolidated summary of the feedback/comment received, without attribution to stakeholder, shall be published after the finalization of the Rules.
The Ministry has invited feedback from the public on the draft Bill. The submissions will not be disclosed and held in fiduciary capacity, to enable persons submitting feedback to provide the same freely. No public disclosure of the submissions will be made."
Now, this implies that MeiTY will not disclose the comments sent to them. It might also be possible that they might not offer the opportunity to let people give counter-comments. However, letting counter-comments pour in - would depend if the Government believes they should come up with a new draft or not. So it's not too obvious to just blame the government like some busybodies & think tanks have done.
And yet, I believe the reason is they know how multiple times some older drafts of the rules were leaked by actors with special interests.
Yes, I know that there will be a lot to criticise the concerned ministry on the rules, and their arbitrariness. But playing this loop all the time that the leaks were not intentional, is equally unjustified.
Hence, Indic Pacific Legal Research LLP will not provide feedback in public.
In the case of the Indian Society of Artificial Intelligence and Law - Kapil Naresh has established a Data Privacy Expert Group, which is open to collect public comments, and collate them for a Committee Session & some reviews. So feel free to send in your feedback at kapil.naresh@isail.co.in as well.