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ARTICLE · 18 FEBRUARY 2026

Data Privacy Risks For Telecom Operators And OTT Platforms Under India's DPDP Regime: User Metadata, Surveillance And Platform Accountability

King, Stubb & Kasiva
King, Stubb & Kasiva
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King, Stubb & Kasiva

King, Stubb & Kasiva

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Few sectors process personal data as continuously, invisibly and unavoidably as telecom operators and OTT platforms making them among the most susceptible to data privacy risks.

IndiaPrivacy
Aniket Ghosh
Aniket Ghosh
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Introduction: Why Telecom and OTT Platforms Sit at the Heart of India's Privacy Debate

Few sectors process personal data as continuously, invisibly and unavoidably as telecom operators and OTT platforms making them among the most susceptible to data privacy risks. Every phone call, message, stream, click, pause and recommendation generates layers of metadata, often more revealing than the underlying content itself.

Telecom service providers (TSPs), internet service providers (ISPs), OTT messaging apps, video streaming platforms, social media services and content aggregators today process:

  • Subscriber identity and KYC data
  • Call detail records and usage logs
  • Location and IP metadata

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