Data Protection Bill Will End Customer Data Misuse, Penalise Violators, MoS IT Says

The proposed data protection bill will put an end to misuse of customer data, and violators will face punitive action under the rule, Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on Tuesday. The minister shared his reaction in response to Google's settlement of an investigation in the US which outlines that the Internet giant misled users and continued tracking their location even after they opted out of the location tracking system. Google has agreed to settle the lawsuit for which it will pay around  $392 million (roughly Rs. 3,178 crore), according to a statement issued by the Oregon Department of Justice.

"This type of "misuse" of customer data violates #Privacy and #DataProtection expectations India's #DigitalDataProtection bill will put a stop to this - & ensure that any Platform/Intermediary that does this will face punitive & financial consequences, " Chandrasekhar tweeted.

The government in August withdrew the Personal Data Protection Bill from the Lok Sabha and said it will come out with a “set of fresh legislations” that will fit into the comprehensive legal framework.

Government sources have indicated that the fresh data protection bill will be tabled in the winter session of Parliament.

Google's Android dominates smartphone market in India with over 95 percent market share. Elaborating on the settlement, the Oregon Department of Justice said location data is a key part of Google's digital advertising business. The company uses the personal and behavioural data it collects to build detailed user profiles and target ads. In fact, location data is among the most sensitive and valuable personal information Google collects.

Even a limited amount of location data can expose a person's identity and routines and can be used to infer personal details. The attorneys general in the US found that Google violated state consumer protection laws by misleading consumers about its location tracking practices since at least 2014. "Specifically, Google confused its users about the extent to which they could limit Google's location tracking by adjusting their account and device settings," the statement said.