Have diverse representation in data protection panel: Citizens group -Governance Now

Have diverse representation in data protection panel: Citizens group

A committee of experts was set up to deliberate on a data protection framework for India

GN Bureau | November 6, 2017

#Nikhil Dey #Upendra Baxi #AP Shah #right to information #privacy #data protection #Aadhaar #Anjali Bharadwaj

(Illustration: Ashish Asthana)

A group of citizens including eminent jurists and civil activists have written to Justice BN Srikrishna, retired supreme court judge and chairperson, committee of experts on data protection framework, to protest against the non-transparency in the committee of experts and its composition and selection of members.

The existing composition of the committee primarily includes either government officials or academicians and legal experts working for the government. The group has demanded greater representation of citizens’ point of view.

Early this year the government had constituted a committee of experts to deliberate on a data protection framework for India. The committee's recommendations would lead to a legislation, laying the contours of privacy in India, building up from the historic judgment passed by a nine-member constitution bench of the supreme court.

"It would also help to bring the point of view of the citizens within the privacy and data protection draft framework, particularly with regard to issues of consent. It is vital that the idea of consent be central to the proposed data protection framework. The framework must be both relevant to people and take into consideration Indian realities, so that citizens are able to differentiate between manufactured and informed consent," the group said in its letter issued on November 5.

"Another critical aspect of the data protection framework is to define a complementary relationship between the right to information and the right to privacy. For this, we strongly recommend the inclusion of representatives of the Right to Information movement," wrote the citizen's group, which assembled under the Rethink Aadhaar umbrella.

The group included Justice AP Shah (former chief justice of Delhi high court and chairperson of a similar committee in the past), professor Upendra Baxi, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, Aruna Roy, Nikhil Dey, Anjali Bharadwaj and Prashant Bhushan.

The Rethink Aadhaar campaign has demanded the following: 1) all available information related to the formation of the expert committee, 2) the data protection bill drafted by MeitY that is being considered by this committee, 3) composition of the working groups that have been formed and 4) minutes of all the meetings and complete information relating to the formation of this committee.

The committee of experts has the following members: Aruna Sundararajan, secretary, department of telecom, Ajay Bhushan Pandey, CEO, UIDAI, Ajay Kumar, additional secretary, MeitY, Professor Rajat Moona, Director, lIT, Raipur, Gulshan Rai, National Cyber Security Coordinator, Professor Rishikesha T. Krishnan, Director, IIM, Indore, Arghya Sengupta, Research Director, Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy -- a New Delhi-based think tank that assisted the government in drafting the Aadhaar Act, 2016, and its regulations, Rohini Nilekani, spouse of Nandan Nilekani (former Chairperson UIDAI), Rama Vedashree, CEO, DSCI.

Comments

Other News

Modi’s forward-looking I-Day speech lays down 5-year agenda

Contrast prime minister Narendra Modi’s first Independence Day speech in 2014 with his latest, the first in the second term, and you know the difference. His first speech was less about future and much about the basic needs like Swachch Bharat (clean India). His speech on Thursday, on the other hand,

Better cities require active citizen engagement

With Mumbai city battling myriad civic issues and annual flooding year after year, stakeholders and experts came together to discuss ways of dealing with these issues as community work. The discussion was held at the TEDxVersova Salon- Vibrant Civic Participation, an independent TED event organized by the

Independence Day: PM underlines new beginnings

Addressing the nation from the ramparts of the Red Fort for the first in his second term, prime minister Narendra Modi highlighted the new beginnings his government has made in recent days, and underlined the hopes of a new India in the making. “Things that could not happen in the past

Kashmir decision “sole prerogative of the country”

India has told China that the legislation changing the status of Jammu and Kashmir was “an internal matter. External affairs minister S Jaishankar, visiting China Monday, told foreign minister Wang Yi that the legislative measures were aimed at promoting better governance and socio-ec

To fight climate change, pay attention also to land

When considering climate change, one of the greatest threats before the humanity, discussions usually focus on air and water, but land too is affected by and in turn affects global warming as much as those two elements. A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), out early Augus

Mumbai witnesses jump in bus ridership after fare cut

To revive bus ridership, the BMC-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) reduced its bus fares in Mumbai to minimum Rs 5 for non-AC buses as against Rs 8 earlier for the first five kilometres and capped maximum fare at Rs 20. For its AC buses the minimum fare has been brought down from Rs 20

Current Issue

Video

Opinion

Twitter

Tweets by @governancenow