Govt seeking unrestricted access to non-personal data of people from e-commerce companies, says report

The government is seeking unrestricted access to all non-personal data of citizens from e-commerce and social media firms, reported Tech2, citing officials. The development, the officials told the media house, is expected to raise concerns within the country’s digital economy.

"The thought process of the government is that it should have access to all non-personal, aggregate and anonymised data at all times and on demand…The data doesn't necessarily need to be stored with the government but it should be able to regulate how, when and where the data is being used,” a source within the government was quoted as saying in the report.

The government's move comes at a time when two key developments are awaited that will redraw the nation’s digital landscape — firstly, the Personal Data Protection Bill that is all set to be introduced during this Parliament session and second, the upcoming report on non-personal data by a committee headed by Infosys co-founder Kris Gopalakrishnan.

According to the report, the government argues that data currently stored by various e-commerce giants and social media sites is a large resource that "can be used for the public good”.

The report added that India will not be the only nation to utilise non-personal data as European Union makes available non-personal data for regulatory control.