Personal Data Protection And E-Commerce
- IJLLR Journal
- May 11
- 2 min read
Keerthana PD, CSI Law College, MG University, Kottayam
Introduction
The e-commerce sector in India has experienced remarkable expansion in recent years. Recognizing India's significant e-retail potential across various segments, investors have actively poured capital into the e-commerce industry. It has successfully connected nations and enterprises, emerging as a vital channel for communication as well as for goods and services in online marketplaces. As a platform, the internet enables and provides an incredibly diverse range of e-commerce business opportunities.
In India, the e-commerce sector has been experiencing significant growth and is projected to overtake the U.S. to become the world's second-largest e-commerce market by 2034. The value of the e-commerce industry in India was around US$ 50 billion in 2018 and is anticipated to rise to US$ 200 billion by 2027. The significant expansion of e-commerce in India over the past twenty years can be attributed to the increased access to the internet and mobile phones among the populace, fostering the rise of online shopping in India.
The personal data plays a crucial role in the functioning of e-commerce by enabling personalized and efficient customer experiences. E-commerce platforms collect data such as browsing history, purchase behavior, location, and preferences to tailor product recommendations, targeted advertisements, and promotional offers, and the customers in the mad driven era of e-commerce are compromising their personal data and privacy for the convenience of digital shopping resulting to the major cyber threats like data breaches, leading to identity theft, scams or phishing attacks ending up in privacy right violations and financial loss.
This article upon the light of these recent trend of E-Commerce platforms explores on the existing legal frameworks on the personal data protection in these online platforms, assessing their legal lacunas with potential suggestions to address those fallibilities.