Legal Vetting To Be Done Before Final DPDP Draft Gets Issued, Says MeitY Secretary

The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) rules will undergo legal vetting before being issued, said S Krishnan, secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), while speaking to NDTV Profit on Friday.

The ministry received over 7,000 independent inputs on the draft DPDP rules, Krishnan noted, adding that all of them were adequately looked into it.

The changes to the final DPDP rules as compared to the draft list are "not very extensive", but the process took time as the inputs had to be "carefully considered".

The MeitY has finished its work related to the same, and the guidelines will be issued following the process of "legal vetting", he added. The final rules could be issued in a "few days", the official further said.

On compliance-related concerns, Krishnan noted that the concerns of players have been "more or less put to rest".

Krishnan also noted that as far as media is concerned, it is not seen as a "data fiduciary". "Most people who share data with media do it on a voluntary basis and that is with consent," he added.

Notably, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology had, in July, questioned the MeitY for delays in implementing the Digital Personal Data Protection Act.

The ministry, in its response, informed the panel that a beta version of the proposed digital office has been developed. It has also held 20 awareness workshops on the DPDP Act and nine consultations on the draft DPDP rules.

The panel had asked MeitY to fast-track its implementation and ensure that intended outcomes are achieved in time, especially in light of India’s growing digital economy and privacy imperatives.