“Can we trust the Indians with our data?” An examination of the emergence of information privacy laws in India

Abstract

This paper looks at the nature and current state of evolution of privacy laws in India. India is an emerging economy, but the Indian ITeS environment has already emerged into a mature and highly competitive destination to outsource a variety of business processes from technically advanced nations. There is, however, a tension that exists between the IT industry’s needs and the Indian societal needs in general. One of the causes of such tension pertains to the issue of privacy. An important facet of the IT industry is information privacy — an aspect demanded and expected by its global customers. But the notion of privacy is hardly global. Different countries have different notions of privacy, often based on cultural norms, resulting in widely differing privacy laws. This paper studies the evolution and development of privacy laws from the context of four main players, namely, the law and legal environment, governmental policies, the IT industry and the citizenry of India. The study shows that while India has made several strides in matching the privacy needs of its global clientele, there are several areas which require further work. To some extent, the democratic structure in India, as well as its security needs have made it difficult and cumbersome to enact privacy laws, and more work is required in this area.