As India attempts to secure the personal information of its people, the faceoff between the tech giants Google, Facebook, Amazon and the Central government cant be ignored. The tussle reached a flashpoint after a team from Special Cell of Delhi Police allegedly raided Twitter Indias office on May 24 in relation to the 'toolkit' case.
In fact, social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and WhatsApp messenger may even be banned if they do not comply with the new Information Technology rules which require them to follow 'additional due diligence in regards to data privacy. The platforms have also been asked to appoint a chief compliance officer, nodal contact person and resident grievance officer as per the revised rules.
The deadline for complying with the central governments new rules under the IT Act ended on May 25. The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 are intended to feature a three tier grievance redressal system and more transparency regarding content moderation systems on social media platforms.
Meanwhile, WhatsApp has even implemented its controversial user privacy policy from May 15, stating that "we will maintain this approach until at least the forthcoming PDP (personal data protection) law comes into effect".
Not long ago, the personal data of 6 million Facebook users from India was also leaked, triggering concerns regarding privacy rights and prompting the government to swing into action.
These recent developments have sparked a debate around data localisation and data privacy across the country and cyber experts often cite the example of the European Union's way of tackling these giants. It is beyond doubt that India can take cues from how the EU dealt with this issue.
Here are some regulations that the EU came up with to secure the data of its people.
In 2018, the EU notified the General Data Protection Regulation to ensure data privacy and address the transfer of personal data outside the EU and the European Economic Area. It is hailed as the toughest privacy and security law in the world.
EU's GDPR applies to all the companies which process the personal data of EU citizens or residents notwithstanding whether they are based in Europe or not. Penalties as high as 20 million or 4 percent of the global revenue of the errant company (whichever is higher) can be imposed if the guidelines are violated, according to GDPR provisions.
EU crackdown on tech giants:
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Here's what India can learn from the EU laws regulating tech giants - CNBCTV18
