Dear friends,

Since the Snowden disclosures in 2013, discourse around digital privacy has intensified as public awareness around it grows. Privacy is not only here to stay, but it, along with security and safety, needs to be embedded in the DNA, in the very fabric of our systems, processes and products. More and more global regulations emphasize the importance of privacy by design. Hands down, baking privacy in over bolting it on wins over the long term!

With the winter session of Parliament already underway in India, there are indications that the draft Indian Data Protection Bill might need to wait until the next government introduces it in Parliament. The earliest that could happen would be monsoon 2019 session. With more than 600 inputs received, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is revising the draft with principles of global convergence for market access and the benefits of interoperability in mind, all the while reflecting on national legal traditions. Irrespective of the enactment of the law, there’s increasing pressure on the government to proactively prevent a Facebook-Cambridge Analytica equivalent from happening in the world’s largest democracy early next year.

As a draft bill is readied, government representatives from the U.S., Japan and European Commission held discussions with various stakeholders in India last month. Regulatory bodies, like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission and the U.K. Information Commissioner's Office, engaged with industry and government urging it to set up an independent data protection authority. Indian IT-BPM industry representatives with substantial presence in the European Union red-flagged being bogged down with both substantive and frivolous data subject access requests in the wake of the General Data Protection Regulation.

Amid all this, IAPP Director of Business Development Peter Yauch and I embarked on a tour of India through the north, west and south. Hopping from city to city engaging with privacy professionals and advocates of data protection, we’ve really enjoyed taking part in IAPP KnowledgeNets, eating dosas, and taking pictures at historic locations. We started with the launch of the Mumbai KnowledgeNet and attended meetings in Hyderabad, Chennai, New Delhi and finally Bengaluru, where we discussed topics far and wide with a common thread of a draft Indian Data Protection Bill.

A special mention of thanks goes out to all the co-chairs and meeting hosts. You make it possible.  

There are a lot more activities in India to come. See you in 2019!

With best wishes,
Rahul Sharma