IT Ministry may only back storage curbs for critical, sensitive data

The IT Ministry is likely to propose that personal information which neither qualifies as ‘critical’ nor ‘sensitive’ should be allowed to be stored and processed anywhere, while data classified as ‘critical’ should be kept only in India under the draft Personal Data Protection Bill.

The proposal is significant as it marks a departure from the original draft of the Personal Data Protection Bill, which had recommended that copy of all personal data should be stored in the country. The tweaking of this provision, if accepted, will spell a relief for companies.

The draft Data Protection Bill submitted by Justice BN Srikrishna committee last year had also suggested that personal data that is of ‘critical’ nature should mandatorily be stored only in India, a stance that will be backed by the IT Ministry.