India has enacted its long-awaited privacy legislation, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act on August 12. While there are various aspects of this Act which distinguish it from other privacy laws in the world, one that is particularly interesting is its approach towards user consent.
India has now been seeking to establish a single national-level personal data protection bill for about six years. The newest development in this saga is the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, the first attempt introduced to Parliament since the previous effort was withdrawn in 2022.
China’s new GDPR-style data protection law does almost nothing to curb the state's unfettered access to data stored within the country, but does sharply limit the ways in which tech firms can handle and share it.
Privacy advocates are voicing opposition against India's long-awaited national data protection law as it makes broad exceptions for government agencies and stipulates high fines and costs.