CAIT urges Piyush Goyal to stick to data localisation in e-commerce policy

CAIT urges Piyush Goyal to stick to data localisation in e-commerce policy

New Delhi, June 26 (HS): The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) in a communication to Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has urged that data localisation in proposed e commerce policy should be adhered to without any compromise.

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said that in e commerce business huge data of consumers is collected at the end of e commerce players and therefore possibilities of misuse of data can not be overlooked particularly by MNCs operating e commerce business in the Country. India is world’s largest consumer market and data assumes much significance.

He said that Firstly, the purpose of personal data protection isn’t to just protect person’s data, but to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of persons that are related to that data. To ensure that personal data is secure, it’s important to know what data is being processed, why it’s being processed and on what grounds. Data is becoming more and more valuable. Also, skills and opportunities for retrieving different types of personal data are evolving extremely fast. Unauthorized, careless or ignorant processing of personal data can cause great harm to persons and economy.

Not complying with the personal data protection regulations can lead to even harsher situations, where it’s possible to extract all the money from a person’s bank account or even cause a life-threatening situation by manipulating health information data protection regulations are necessary for ensuring and fair and consumer friendly commerce and provision of services. Personal data protection regulations cause a situation, where, for example, personal data can’t be sold freely which means that people have a greater control over who makes them offers and what kind of offers they make.

The provision of data localisation is fairly spelled out in draft of e commerce policy and therefore it should essentially be made integral part of e commerce policy, Khandelwal added.