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India has proposed a new data privacy law by publishing the bill for the legislation on 18 November 2022, according to The Straits Times.
The new Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, now available for public consultation until 17 December, comes after several iterations over five years. The Hindu said that this was the fourth iteration of the proposed law after a first draft was introduced in 2018.
This followed a 2017 ruling by the Supreme Court of India that the right to privacy is a constitutionally protected fundamental freedom.
The law, which may be called the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, will govern how people’s personal data is collected, stored and used by private companies and the government in one of the world’s biggest online markets.
According to Reuters, India considered global best practices and reviewed data legislation in Singapore, Australia, and European Union, while making the new proposal for the law, which would impact the right to privacy for a fast-growing digital market.
India has more than 760 million active internet users in a population of 1.4 billion, according to the Financial Times. The number of users is expected to reach 1.2 billion later this decade.