Protection of personal data should be backed by law: RBI executive director

Protection of personal data should be backed by a legal provision as it will help ensure privacy and confidentiality of individuals, a senior RBI official said on Tuesday.

Data protection is crucial because privacy and confidentiality of individuals is their right under the Constitution, RBI Executive Director T Rabi Sankar said.

“I strongly believe that the protection of use of proprietary data, in particular personal data, needs to be legally provided for rather than through subordinate legislation like regulation through regulatory authority,” Sankar said.

He was addressing the virtual event ‘RAISE 2020: Responsible AI for Social Empowerment’.

The government is looking to table the Personal Data Protection Bill in the Budget session of Parliament next year. The bill proposes to put restriction on use of personal data without explicit consent of citizens.