New privacy law may only cover only digital data at first

The data protection bill that is being redrawn after being withdrawn in Parliament by the government earlier this month will initially only cover digital personal data and not records on paper, people aware of the matter said, adding that possible legacy provisions will be included to cover any data that is subsequently digitised.

The move will include making a distinction between digitised and non-digitised data, according to internal discussions held at the ministry of electronics and information technology. “The government is still working on how to segregate the two, with a special focus on ensuring safety of sensitive personal data,” said one official, asking not to be named.

“The ultimate aim will be to digitise all data, but the bill, as it is shaping up, is likely to only apply to digital data initially,” the official added.