{"id":35344,"date":"2025-01-13T18:33:24","date_gmt":"2025-01-13T13:03:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=35344"},"modified":"2025-08-04T12:45:46","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T07:15:46","slug":"data-localization-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/13-01-2025\/data-localization-in-india","title":{"rendered":"Data Localization in India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The government released the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/06-01-2025\/meity-draft-digital-personal-data-protection-rules-2025\"><strong>Draft of Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025<\/strong><\/a><strong> <\/strong>for public consultations, which has regulations pertaining to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/editorial-analysis\/19-08-2022\/data-localisation\"><strong>Data Localisation<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is Data Localisation?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It refers to the practice of <strong>storing and processing data within the borders of a specific country<\/strong> or geographic region, in compliance with that <strong>region\u2019s laws and regulations.&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It involves <strong>restrictions on transferring data across international borders<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Background<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>In 2017, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) established the<strong> Justice B.N. Srikrishna Committee<\/strong> to develop a data protection framework for India.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill was passed in 2023.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Once notified, the Rules will enable the effective implementation of the <strong>Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act).<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Highlights of the Rules under the Act in line with the Data Localisation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Data Fiduciaries:<\/strong> All major tech companies including Meta, Google, Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon are expected to be classified as significant <strong>data fiduciaries.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Transparency:<\/strong> Data Fiduciaries must provide clear and accessible information about how personal data is processed, enabling informed consent.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Restriction on flow of Data:<\/strong> The Union Government will specify the kind of personal data which can be processed by \u201csignificant data fiduciaries\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>It is subject to the restriction that such personal data is not transferred outside the territory of India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Data Breach: <\/strong>In the event of a data breach, data fiduciaries will have to intimate impacted individuals without delay, including the measures implemented to mitigate risk.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The penalty for not being able to take enough safeguards for preventing a data breach could go as high as Rs 250 crore.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need for Data Localisation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>India\u2019s Growing Digital Economy: <\/strong>India\u2019s digital economy is projected to reach $1 trillion by 2025, making it one of the world\u2019s largest data generators.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>With over 800 million internet users and growing, the volume of personal data being generated, processed, and stored is astronomical.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>This has attracted global technology giants, but it has also raised questions about data sovereignty and national security.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>National Security: <\/strong>When critical personal data of Indian citizens is stored in foreign jurisdictions, it becomes subject to foreign laws and potentially foreign surveillance, creating vulnerabilities in India\u2019s national security framework.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Increasing Cyber Threats:<\/strong> In an age where <strong>data breaches and cyber warfare are real threats, <\/strong>having critical data within national borders ensures better incident response and more control over security measures.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Economic Interests:<\/strong> It effectively creates a robust domestic data centre industry. This not only generates employment and technological expertise but also reduces dependency on foreign infrastructure.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Improved Data Management:<\/strong> By keeping data within the country, it can be more easily monitored and audited to prevent misuse or breaches.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Access to Law Enforcement Agencies:<\/strong> It also enables <strong>faster access to data for law enforcement <\/strong>agencies when investigating cyber crimes or national security threats.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Challenges with Data Localisation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Infrastructural Hurdles:<\/strong><strong> <\/strong>India may face a shortage of adequate infrastructure to support the vast amounts of data generated across industries.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Building and maintaining local data centers can be expensive for businesses, especially smaller ones.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Global Business Impact:<\/strong> There are concerns that strict localisation requirements could increase operational costs for businesses, potentially hampering innovation and foreign investment.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Compliance Burden:<\/strong> Businesses may face legal and regulatory complexity in adhering to multiple localization laws, especially when dealing with cross-border data transfers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India\u2019s approach to data protection and localisation reflects both its <strong>sovereign aspirations<\/strong> and the practical challenges of managing its vast digital footprint.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In an interconnected world where data flows know no borders, India\u2019s approach to data protection and localisation could <strong>serve as a model for other developing nations<\/strong> seeking to protect their digital sovereignty while fostering innovation and growth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/technology\/companies-look-to-localise-data-storage-telecom-tech\/article69085479.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The government released the Draft of Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 for public consultations, which has regulations pertaining to Data Localisation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35344"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35345,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35344\/revisions\/35345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}