Privacy And Data Protection In India: 2021 Wrap

2021 was a blink-and-you-will-miss conveyor belt of activities on privacy and data protection in India. With the din of the absence of a comprehensive data protection law in India louder than ever, there was no lack of activity on the legislative and executive side. The Indian Government introduced significant changes such as liberalizing the archaic geospatial data regime, introducing industry standards for privacy assurance, and introducing tighter security measures in the digital payments sector. On the judicial side, there have been pronouncements on issues of anonymity, the right to be forgotten, and on state surveillance. The new draft of the proposed GDPR-inspired data protection law of course takes the cake, having been deliberated for two years since the last draft was floated.