C&L October 2017_LR (5)

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FEATURE Are you ready for a data protection regime? Protecting personal data of citizens is increasingly being seen as a major obligation By Shyamanuja Das R ecently, when Equifax, one of the top three US credit bureaus, suffered a massive cyber attack that resulted in breach of personal data of 143 million people, the first major fallout was rolling of the heads of some C suite executives. No marks for guessing who those C-suite executives were. Dave Webb was working as the CIO of the company for seven years while Susan Mauldin was the chief security officer since 2013. It is anything but surprising. Protecting personal data of citizens is increasingly being seen as a major obligation of those who deal with that data—be it commercial agencies like Equifax or government agencies like Unique Identification Authority of India. Globally, an individual’s right to privacy—that includes informational privacy—is increasingly being recognized. Authorities are coming with 4 CIO&LEADER | October 2017
Feature stringent regulations for the entities that handle individual’s personal data—often called ‘data controller’ and ‘data processor’ in regulatory lingo. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—a regulatory framework that has been approved by the European Union Parliament and will come into effect in May 2018, is seen as a pioneering regulation regime in the area. The demand for such regime is becoming stronger in all parts of the democratic world. In India, the apex court, the Supreme Court of India has lent its voice to the cause by explicitly recommending the government to initiate such legislation. Justice(s) Seeking On 24 August, in a historic judgment, a nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court ruled that right to privacy is a fundamental right. While another important judgment on triple talaq delivered two days earlier saw a divide of opinion among the five members of the bench, the decision on right to privacy was completely unanimous, in a much larger bench. “The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution,” the bench ruled in its order while over-ruling two earlier decisions by the apex court. The government had argued against privacy being a fundamental right. While the media focused on the judgment’s implication for Aadhaar because the judgment came while hearing a petition that questioned the data collected by Unique Identification Authority for Aadhaar, the implications of the judgment are far wider. Creation of a data protection regime—is by far the most obvious and immediate fallout—something which the honorable judges have pointed out as well. Protected personal data is one of the most important means to protect an individual’s privacy. Ensuring it is becoming a tough challenge in this era of digital everything. There is an unprecedented need for regulation regarding the extent to which such information can be stored, processed and used by non-state actors. There is also a need for protection of such information from the State “We are in an information age. With the growth and development of technology, more information is now easily available. The information explosion has manifold advantages but also some disadvantages. The access to information, which an individual may not want to give, needs the protection of privacy. The right to privacy is claimed qua the State and non-State actors. Recognition and enforcement of claims qua non-state actors may require legislative intervention by the State,” Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said in his judgment. Giving examples of players, such as Uber, Facebook, Alibaba and Airbnb and noting the capabilities of technologies such as ‘Big Data’, the judgment observes that individual’s data can be collected, processed to find new uses of data. “A large number of people would like to keep such search history private, but it rarely remains private, and is collected, sold and analyzed for purposes such as targeted advertising,” the judgment noted. Noting that the personal data collected is capable of effecting representations, influencing decision making processes, shaping behavior, and the possibility of the government exercising control over us like ‘big brother’ leading to stultifying effect on the expression of dissent and difference of opinion, the judgment explicitly argued for legislation in the area. “There is an unprecedented need for regulation regarding the extent to which such information can be stored, processed and used by nonstate actors. There is also a need for protection of such information from the State,” Justice Kaul noted while clarifying that interception may be desirable and permissible in order to ensure national security, it cannot be left unregulated. Both Justice Dr DY Chandrachud and Justice Kaul explicitly stressed the need for legislation to protect data privacy. The judges delivered six separate judgments. While Justice Chandrachud delivered the judgment on behalf of four judges including the Chief Justice, the other judges delivered their own judgments. “Informational privacy is a facet of the right to privacy. The dangers to privacy in an age of information can originate not only from the state but from non-state actors as well. We commend to the Union Government the need to examine and put into place a robust regime for data protection. The creation of such a regime requires a careful and sensitive balance between individual interests and legitimate concerns of the state,” Justice Chandrachud’s judgment noted. “I agree with Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, J., that formulation of data protection is a complex exercise which needs to be undertaken by the State after a careful balancing of privacy concerns and legitimate State interests, including public benefit arising from scientific October 2017 | CIO&LEADER 5
Page 1: INSIGHT Meet the global desi IT lea
Page 5 and 6: EDITORIAL Shyamanuja Das shyamanuja
Page 7: FEATURE 04-08 Are You Ready For A D
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Page 13 and 14: 100 IT Decision makers with 10,000+
Page 15 and 16: Cover Story TAKING STOCK Organized
Page 17 and 18: Cover Story from every Indian state
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Page 23 and 24: Vishal Salvi, Infosys Interview thi
Page 25 and 26: Event Report Sunil Manglore, Managi
Page 27 and 28: Event Report Experience Analytics a
Page 29 and 30: Book Review I t is ironic that in a
Page 31 and 32: Insight Mamatha Chamarthi Chief Dig
Page 33 and 34: Insight Rahul Samant SVP & CIO, Del
Page 35 and 36: Insight O Putting cloud first, lite
Page 37 and 38: Insight The initial driver for the
Page 39 and 40: Insight G Companies are struggling
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Page 43 and 44: Insight I out of 144 countries 108
Page 45 and 46: #TheBigPicture 52% of winners from

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