white_paper_on_data_protection_in_india_171127_final_v2

mechanism to provide prior approval invoking such a clause, similar to the Court as
envisaged under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, 1978 (FISA) in the US. 315
7.3 Provisional Views
1. A wide exemption may be provided for data processed for household purposes.
2. A wide exemption may be provided for data processed for journalistic/artistic and
literary purposes. However, the requirement to have adequate security and
organisational measures for protecting data against unauthorised access should be
applicable.
3. An exemption may be provided for data processed for the purpose of academic
research, statistics and historical purposes. However, adequate safeguards may be
incorporated in law to ensure that the data is being used for a bonafide purpose, and has
been lawfully obtained. The law must provide for adequate security and organizational
safeguards in the handling of such data.
4. The law may provide exemptions for the following purposes/processing activities:
(i) information collected for the purpose of investigation of a crime, and apprehension
or prosecution of offenders; (ii) information collected for the purpose of maintaining
national security and public order.
5. The exemptions must be defined in a manner to ensure that processing of data under the
exemptions is done only for the stated purpose. Further, it must be demonstrable that
the data was necessary for the stated purpose.
6. In order to ensure that the exemptions are reasonable and not granted arbitrarily, an
effective review mechanism must be devised.
7.4 Questions
1. What are the categories of exemptions that can be incorporated in the data protection
law?
2. What are the basic security safeguards/organisational measures which should be
prescribed when processing is carried out on an exempted ground, if any?
315 The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) is a high powered Court, which has the jurisdiction to
―hear applications for and grant orders approving electronic surveillance anywhere within the United States‖ as
per Section 103, FISA. The FISC decides whether the government requests for electronic surveillance, physical
searches, access to business records, pen registers and trap and trace devices for ―foreign intelligence purposes‖
should be approved. To get such a request approved, the government has to prove that the information is
relevant to an investigation in order to protect against ―international terrorism or clandestine intelligence
activities‖.
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