techUK joins global industry in raising concerns over India NPD Report

techUK has joined a global industry coalition to raise concerns about the proposals in the Report by the Committee of Experts on Non-Personal Data Governance Framework. In a letter to Secretary Shri Ajay Prakash Sawhney, Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology, we have highlighted a number of potential issues with the approach.

The Report proposes a framework that would force global companies to share their data with the Government of India and other businesses in India, which would amount to the expropriation of proprietary business information.

In addition, the Report recommends mandatory local storage of so-called critical and sensitive “non-personal data.” Due to an expansive definition of “non-personal data,” most company-held data – including intellectual property, trade secrets, processes, and insights – would be subject to these measures.

If enacted, these measures would create powerful disincentives for India’s innovation ecosystem, as they would devalue the data sets themselves and undermine the significant investments global companies make to collect and derive value from “non-personal” data. 

The full letter is available below.