Summary:
Kolkata, Nov 27 (PTI) Trinamool Congress on Saturday expressed misgivings about the real intent of the data protection bill and said it may invade privacy.
The Joint Committee of Parliament on Personal Data Protection Bill has maintained the contentious clause 35 of the proposed act which empowers central government and its law enforcing agencies to process data without seeking permission from the individual for the purpose of sovereignty, safety of the state and for friendly relations with foreign states.
The government and its agencies, like the police, CBI, ED, R&AW, IB and UIDAI, may be exempt from the proposed data protection law for national security and public welfare reasons provided they follow the prescribed procedures that are fair and reasonable, the parliamentary panel recommended in the report adopted on Monday.
Iterating it"s reservations, the TMC tweeted Saturday "Will the Data Protection Bill really protect our data?" The party posted on the microblogging site, "We have seen STATE-SPONSORED SNOOPING on the people of India.
Now, Section 35 of the Bill will give the govt.
exclusive rights to invade our privacy whenever they want WITHOUT CONSENT! Our privacy SHOULD NOT be compromised." Congress and TMC have already given dissent notes to the committee.