On a day when Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg accepted full responsibility for the data breach that exposed personal information of 85 million Facebook users worldwide, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is right in arguing that data sharing should be regulated and that big tech companies reaching Indian users must locate their servers in India.

The majority of user data generated by companies like Google, Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram is located overseas and outside Indian jurisdiction. These platforms must ensure that Indian data is located on Indian soil. This is a must for ensuring proper oversight, data-protection and security reasons as well.

At a time when the US, UK and other liberal democracies are vigorously debating the need to regulate big tech – as Zuckerberg’s US Congress testimony shows — India must make moves to secure the digital futures of its citizens. The PM’s call for local servers comes soon after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) mandated that all payment operators have to store data within the country by September.

Indians make up the largest proportion of users for platforms like Facebook and WhatsApp. India is well within its rights to protect their privacy interests.