Episode 51 - Non - Personal Data - India Stakes A Claim On Owning and Regulating NPD

A July 2020 Indian Government Report calls for regulation of Non-Personal Data. Most data privacy laws aim to protect (or not) personal data of people, This Report raises the question whether the world is about to see an explosion of regulation of non-personal data, which could change the business of data and how information flows within and across national borders.

Stephen Mathias, head of the Bangalore/Bengaluru office of Kochhar & Co., one of India’s largest law firms, first updates us on two ongoing data privacy topics and then explains a novel approach to non-personal data being considered by the world’s largest democracy.

The Personal Data Protection Bill is advancing toward adoption by the Indian Parliament. Patterned on EU principles, the Bill if adopted in its current form would align India generally with GDPR concepts, though with a data localization approach different from EU rules for data sharing across borders.

In August 2020 the Modi Government decreed as an emergency measure a ban of certain Chinese apps, grounded in concerns about how the personal data of Indian residents could be provided by the businesses with Chinese authorities. India joins the U.S. in using data and technology as a geopolitical tool against PRC actions that transcend data concerns. For Indian consumers and businesses that represent a large market for Chinese companies and provide services used by many Indian residents, this has raised a backlash from many using Chinese-sourced apps and concern from businesses about the retaliation. Will trade wars be supplemented by data wars? Stay tuned.

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