Ask any marketing head whether the company website collects personal data, and the usual answer is, “Only through the contact form.” Ask the IT team to run a scan, and the picture changes. A typical business website today loads analytics scripts, advertising pixels, chat widgets, embedded videos, heatmap tools and a dozen third-party tags that nobody in the legal team has ever seen. Each of them may be collecting something about your visitors.
In my experience advising Indian companies on technology and privacy matters, the website is often the weakest link in data protection compliance. Not because businesses are careless, but because website data collection grows quietly, one plugin at a time. This article explains the legal position on website data collection in India, what the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act) and the DPDP Rules, 2025 expect from you, and the steps a business should take now.