india

Updated: Nov 07, 2019 02:33 IST

Amid the furore over Pegasus hacking incident, IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Wednesday sent out a strong message saying India takes privacy seriously of which informational privacy is an integral part, and data imperialism will not be acceptable.

At the Commonwealth Law Ministers’ conference in Colombo (Sri Lanka), India’s law and IT minister strongly articulated New Delhi’s approach and stance on data protection, an official release said.

The minister said in the age of Information Technology, data plays a crucial role in the digital economy discourse. “In India we view privacy seriously and informational privacy is also integral to that. It means a person must have control over his data and its commercial usage,” Prasad said.

The comments assume significance in the backdrop of recent disclosures by messaging giant WhatsApp that said Indian journalists and human rights activists were among those globally spied upon by unnamed entities using an Israeli spyware Pegasus.

WhatsApp had said it is suing NSO Group, an Israeli surveillance firm, that is reportedly behind the technology that helped unnamed entities’ hack into phones of roughly 1,400 users spanning four continents and included diplomats, political dissidents, journalists and senior government officials.

Speaking at the conference, Prasad noted that data economy, both in terms of commercial use and employment, will play a crucial role. While India acknowledges this fact, it is equally important that a large amount of data is being generated in developing and under developed countries but the claim for processing is being emphasised only by big countries. The minister cautioned that any attempt to create monopoly on data by few companies and nations or data imperialism will not be acceptable.

Data sovereignty of countries, big or small, must be respected, Prasad said. The minister also mentioned about the entire evolution of data law in India, the recommendations of Justice Shri Krishna Committee, the public consultations and said the initiative for taking a Bill into Parliament is being considered, according to the release.