The government will soon notify the Data Protection Board (DPB), along with appointment and recruitment rules for its chairperson and members, the Minister of State for Electronics and IT (MeiTY) Rajeev Chandrasekhar said according to a report by the Economic Times.
The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill, 2023, passed in the monsoon session of the Parliament became a law earlier this month when the President gave assent on August 11.
The MeiTY is working on implementation aspects including drafting of the required rules and will undertake public consultations as and when required, the minister said.
Although the law provides much-needed clarity to users on how businesses can use their data. The legislation has been criticised for undertaking delegated legislation route to specify much of the compliance through rules.
There are concerns that the legislation would lead to government sponsored surveillance of citizens and watering Right to Information Act, 2005 provisions. The legislation provides that upon a reference by the DPB in writing and in the interest of general public, the Central Government can block any web platform.
Qualifications of Data Protection Board Chairperson and Members
The enactment expressly sets out the composition of the DPB, the qualifications, duration of appointment, and grounds for removal of its Chairperson and Members. In a significant move towards transperancy, the law imposes a one-year cooling-off period to Chairperson and Members from taking up positions in entities against which they chaired the proceedings.
The Chairperson and the members will be from fields having special knowledge or practical experience in the fields of data governance, administration or implementation of laws related to social or consumer protection, dispute resolution, information and communication. Incidentally, the DPDP Act does not mandate a judge or lawyer requirement for the Chairperson which is generally the case for enactments of this nature. However, at least one amongst the Chairperson and the members will be from legal field.