Data Protection Bill gives Centre unlimited powers

The proposed Data Protection Bill gives the government power to access any non-personal information from anywhere at any given time.

This gives the Centre unlimited power over any data that is not listed as personally identifiable. It will also be able to exempt government agencies from the provisions of the Bill.

“The Central Government may, in consultation with the Authority (proposed Data Protection Authority), direct any data fiduciary or data processor to provide any personal data anonymised or other non-personal data to enable better targeting of delivery of services or formulation of evidence-based policies by the Central Government, in such manner as may be prescribed,” the Bill reads, pointing to the increased powers the Centre has given itself; these were not mentioned in the draft, which was under consultation.