The government does not see any scope for making changes in the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 and may issue a detailed reply soon to explain issues raised by journalists and civil rights bodies, an official source said.
Civil rights and journalists’ bodies on Wednesday expressed apprehension over the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, saying the provisions under it may fail the Right to Information (RTI) Act and end press freedom.
“The (DPDP) Act has been passed by Parliament. Therefore no changes can be made now. Rules are being processed which can only be framed within the ambit of the Act,” the source said.
Government sources said the DPDP Act and draft rules under it have been framed after receiving thousands of inputs from multiple entities.
About government assurance on frequently asked questions (FAQs), the source said it will be issued soon.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Sunday said deletion of the proviso in the RTI Act that recognises citizens’ right to information as being at par with that of legislators is “completely unwarranted”, and urged IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to pause, review, and repeal the amendment made to the original legislation of 2005.
Vaishnaw had responded to Ramesh, saying that personal details that are subject to public disclosure under various laws will continue to be disclosed under the RTI Act after the implementation of the new data protection rule.
Supreme Court lawyer and convenor of The Campaign for Judicial Accountability & Judicial Reforms (CJAR) Prashant Bhushan alleged that the Act bars and amends RTI Act to stop sharing of personal identifiable information without consent.
According to the civil rights bodies, the provision not only kills the RTI Act but also discourages journalists and whistleblowers from exposing names of corrupt officials without their consent.
According to civil rights bodies and activists, the DPDP Act removes provisions under the RTI Act that will enable government bodies to withhold information under the garb of personal information.
Former High Court Justice A P Shah in an open letter to Attorney General of India on July 28 said Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act replaces the narrowly tailored exemption in Section 8(1)(j) with an overbroad provision for withholding information, and removing the “public interest” override.
“This enables public authorities to deny information simply by classifying it as ‘personal,’ regardless of its public relevance or importance,” he said.
National Campaign for People’s Right to Information (NCPRI) Co-Convenor Anjali Bharadwaj last month said that RTI empowers people to get to know where their files are stuck, details of contractors associated with public projects, surveys to check beneficiaries under the scheme and to verify if they have received the benefits, etc.
She said all these information will stop under the garb of restrictions imposed on seeking personal identifiable data under data protection rules.
“There are no specific exemptions to journalists under the Act which was clearly mentioned under the previous drafts. There is a clear demand to add exemptions for journalists under the rules, or else press freedom will end,” Bharadwaj said.
She said the Act gives complete power to the government to control the Data Protection Board that has power to impose up to Rs 500 crore.
“No government should be given as much discretion as this Act gives to them. At present, there is a BJP government; tomorrow, there may be some other government. The Act should not give excess power to any government to use the provisions at their sole discretion,” Bharadwaj said.
Press Club of India Vice-President Sangeeta Barooah Pisharoty said journalist bodies have handed over a memorandum to Ministry of Electronics and IT Secretary that was signed by over 1,000 journalists expressing concern over the DPDP Act.
“Earlier drafts had a line which said that journalistic work will be exempted but it was dropped. We are asking the government to bring in an amendment that is our primary demand and include that line because it will directly impact our works,” Pisharoty said.
She said there is hope that the ministry will listen to journalists’ demands.
“This is a rightful demand. This is something that we are very keen on and we are not going to step back. We also told the authorities that we should not be pushed to a situation where we come to the street or go looking for a legal option,” Pisharoty said.
The DPDP Act, 2023 is a comprehensive data privacy law to regulate the processing of digital personal data. Draft DPDP Rules, 2025, which aim to operationalise the Act, were published for public consultation, receiving 6,915 feedback/inputs from citizens and stakeholders, according to an official release.
Civil rights bodies have expressed apprehension that the centre may selectively target media by misusing the power under the DPDP Act.
Edited by Megha Reddy
