E-commerce policy for data protection may further annoy US

NEW DELHI: The stringent norms for data protection and online trade, proposed under the draft e-commerce policy released on Saturday, may further annoy the US, which has raised concerns over growing trade barriers in India.

The proposed policy seeks to treat anonymized data collected in the country as a “national asset”, suggesting that such data generated by Indian users on e-commerce platforms, social media and search engines needs to be kept within the country.

A business entity, which collects or processes any sensitive data in India and stores it abroad, needs to share such data with Indian authorities when required. Besides, such data must not be shared with a third party, including a foreign government, even with consumer consent.