JPC clears draft report of Data Protection Bill to be tabled in Parliament

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New Delhi: The Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) adopted the draft report of the Joint Committee on ‘The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019’ by a majority on Monday (November 22).

The Bill will be tabled in the upcoming winter session of Parliament.

The draft Bill was cleared in a meeting held under the leadership of BJP MP PP Chaudhary. It aims to provide for the protection of the privacy of individuals relating to their personal data.

The Union Cabinet had earlier in December 2019 approved the Bill, 2019. It was drafted following a Supreme Court judgement in August 2017 that declared `Right to Privacy` a fundamental right.

The Joint Committee of Parliament had last met in Delhi on November 12 to consider and adopt the draft report of the Bill.

Besides protection of the privacy, the Bill aims to create a framework for organisational and technical measures in processing of data, laying down norms for social media intermediary, cross-border transfer, accountability of entities processing personal data, remedies for unauthorised and harmful processing, and to establish a Data Protection Authority of India.