Decoding The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, Under The Backdrop Of Privacy

Yuvraj Singh, Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

Prof. Ambar Srivastava, Assistant Professor at Law College Dehradun, Uttaranchal University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India

“Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage's whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.” - Ayn Rand

ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to examine the challenges pertaining to right to privacy of an individual in the information age. Data privacy and security is considered as one of the major global concerns among the countries which is to be dealt with a comprehensive legislation on the discipline. The main issue arises in this discipline is that where to draw a line between state or non-state actions and individual’s privacy. Privacy is regarded as the constitutionally acclaimed right of the individual or more aptly considered as the fundamental right under Part-III of the constitution of India which can be enforced in a writ court on the grounds of its violation. This paper also seeks to critically examine the current legislative impetus on data protection and privacy that is the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023. The main focus of this paper is to examine the current legislation on its peculiar intricacies, loopholes or whether this comprehensive act is suitable to achieve the objectives of the data processing, storage, consent of the data principal, protection of sensitive personal data, etc. Lastly, whether the laws formulated regarding the data privacy post Puttaswamy judgement have the insights of the judicial principles laid down in the judgement or not.

Keywords: Data Principal, Data fiduciary, Data portability, Sensitive personal data, Data Privacy, Data Subject