DH Exclusive | Karnataka ready to monetise public data

Karnataka will allow monetisation of a treasure trove of citizen data available at its disposal by anonymising personal details under its new open data policy, as the government looks to take advantage of increasing digitalisation to provide “effective governance”.

Notified recently and reviewed by DH, the Karnataka Open Data Policy governs the use of public data. The policy classifies name, address, ID details and religion as personal data. “Only anonymised data could be shared and monetised,” the policy states.

What this means is: any organisation, institution (educational or research), corporate body, the private agency registered in India and operational for 24 months can ink an agreement with the government, including a non-disclosure pact, and buy data to make business decisions.