Gist of Editorials: Short on Nuance (Indian Express) | GS – III

Relevance : GS Paper III (Science and Technology)

[1000 words reduced to 250]


  • B N Srikrishna committee has prepared a draft data protection bill.
  • Pros of the committee
    • inclusive functioning style
    • recommendations such as setting up of an independent data protection authority
    • suggestion that the Aadhaar Act requires several modifications
    • recognition given to data portability.
  • Cons of the committee
    • Suggestion that the UIDAI be both the data fiduciary and the regulator for Aadhaar.
    • suggestion that even though personal data can be transferred outside India, data fiduciaries will be required to store a local copy.
    • cliched vocabulary and superficial treatment of several important issues, for example, data quality and data storage limitation
    • failure to define clear-cut guidelines for the safe use of artificial intelligence and big-data analytics
    • has not carefully evaluated the data processing requirements of the diverse private sector
  • Way forward
    • investigation of the nuances of digital identity and guidelines
    • analysis of the extent to which personal information needs to be revealed
    • understanding of the possible pathways of information leaks
    • analysis of the possibilities of privacy preserving tools, techniques and protocols from computer science
    • improved data processing methods for tax compliance, corruption control, etc.
    • digitisation, surveillance and processing of large-scale personal transactional data
    • analyses of how such surveillance can be achieved without enabling undesirable mass surveillance
    • balancing the conflicting requirements of individual privacy and the benefits of large-scale data processing
    • defining the requirements and standards of access control, and protection against both external and insider attacks
    • availing the benefits from computer science
    • participation of civil society

 

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