India Needs Paradigm Shift in Personal Data Management: Niti Aayog

“However, these approaches have not addressed the issue in a manner that is fully relevant to India’s scale and diversity, and to our objectives around accelerating financial inclusion, economic growth, and data democracy,” it said.

In his foreword, Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant wrote thatin an evolving and fast paced digital landscape, headlines world-over have squarely placed data protection, privacy, and unauthorised data sharing or misuse in the limelight. “In India, we not only need stronger data protection, but also data empowerment: everyday Indians need control over their own personal data to improve their lives.

“They should be able to leverage their digital history to access growth opportunities offered by different institutions,” Kant wrote. He further said that with DEPA, India will be taking a historic step towards empowering individuals with control over their personal data, by operationalising an evolvable regulatory, institutional, and technology design for secure data sharing. Stating that beyond the financial sector, DEPA also presents opportunities in health, jobs and urban data, Kant said this has become more exigent in a post-COVID world.

“DEPA builds the right infrastructure. It inverts the traditional Western model where data is simply used to advertise and sell products, to one where data can be used to empower a billion Indians,” the Niti Aayog CEO noted.