Union Minister for electronics & IT and information & broadcasting, Ashwini Vaishnaw said the long-anticipated rules for the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, are expected to be released within the next month.
He also addressed the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, stating that the government is planning a fresh approach towards it with a broader consultation process, ensuring a more inclusive and transparent dialogue on regulations in the content space.
Elaborating further, the minister said, “One of the major innovations that we did in the DPDP Act was that it should be digital by design, and it should be born digital.”
“The entire implementation structure has to be digital right from the beginning. That entire digital framework has now been completed from inception, and is now fully operational.”
This digital framework under the Act will facilitate users by streamlining interactions with platforms, including the filing of complaints and appeals, the minister added.
He also shared that the underlying digital infrastructure, developed by the Digital India Corporation (DIC) and the National Informatics Centre (NIC), has surpassed the beta testing stage.
It is to be noted that once the rules under the DPDP Act are published, centre will initiate a public consultation period of 45 to 60 days, which could be extended as needed to gather comprehensive feedback.
Also, the DPDP Act stipulates that platforms must secure “verifiable consent” from a parent or legal guardian before processing the personal data of users under the age of 18.
This provision was among the most contentious during last year’s public consultations on the Bill.
As per Section 9 of the DPDP Act, before handling any personal data of a child or a person with a disability who has a legal guardian, the “data fiduciary” must first get clear and confirmed consent from the child’s parent or the person’s legal guardian.