The Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 marks a significant step forward for data privacy in India. On August 11, 2023, India took a monumental step towards robust data protection with President Droupadi Murmu's approval of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act. While the Act's implementation date and specific details are still being finalized, organizations must proactively assess their data practices to be prepared. This comprehensive law sets out clear rules for how businesses and organizations must handle personal data. But what does DPDP compliance entail? And how can you ensure your organization is following the rules? Let's break it down into manageable steps.
Why Compliance Matters?
DPDP compliance isn't just about following the law; it's about building trust with your customers and stakeholders. By demonstrating a commitment to protecting personal data, you enhance your reputation and mitigate the risk of costly legal issues and penalties.
India's DPDP Act 2023: 5 Steps for Privacy Professionals to Kickstart Compliance
This article presents five essential steps privacy professionals can take to build a compliance strategy, prioritizing the most resource-intensive and technologically complex operational aspects.
Determine Your Organization's Applicability:
The DPDP Act governs digital personal data, encompassing information collected both digitally and digitized after offline collection. Privacy professionals should determine whether their organization processes such data within India or processes it outside India but in relation to goods or services offered to Indian residents. Keep in mind, the Act doesn't cover personal data processing for individual or domestic use, or data that's been publicly disclosed by the individual or legally mandated. If the Act applies, exemptions might be available, but these require meticulous analysis due to broad government exclusions and evolving definitions.
Construct a Data Inventory and Map:
Data governance is the bedrock of any privacy program. While the DPDP Act doesn't explicitly mandate data inventory and mapping, these practices are essential for complying with various obligations. For instance, maintaining data accuracy and facilitating data subject rights necessitate a clear understanding of data types, storage locations, processing activities, and shared entities. Building a data inventory can be done manually (e.g., interviews) or through automated methods (e.g., code scanning). The chosen approach depends on factors like data complexity, volume, available resources, executive buy-in, and tool scalability.
Establish Consent Mechanisms:
If data processing hinges on consent, meticulous compliance with the Act's requirements is vital. This involves identifying consent-dependent activities, determining when and how consent should be obtained, and ensuring a clear notice and DPO contact information accompany consent requests. Organizations must also account for obtaining verifiable consent from parents or guardians of children or persons with disabilities. Additionally, creating easy withdrawal processes (e.g., preference centres or unsubscribe links) and maintaining thorough consent logs are crucial for demonstrating compliance.
Enable Data Principal Rights:
The DPDP Act empowers individuals with rights like access, correction, erasure, and nomination. Organizations must build processes to honour these rights, leveraging their data maps to identify relevant data. This entails establishing privacy rights intake mechanisms (e.g., web forms), implementing robust identity verification, and determining whether rights fulfilment will be manual, automated, or a combination. If data is shared with processors, procedures for handling correction and erasure requests must be established.
Implement Technical and Organizational Measures:
Data fiduciaries must implement "appropriate technical and organizational measures" and "reasonable security safeguards" to prevent breaches. The potential penalties for failure underscore the importance of this step. Measures can range from employee training and clear standard operating procedures to technical solutions like anonymization and access controls. The chosen measures should be risk-based, considering industry best practices and potential privacy harms.
Staying Ahead of the Curve
With several key provisions of the DPDP Act yet to be detailed in delegated legislation, privacy professionals must stay abreast of developments and adjust their compliance strategies accordingly. This can be done by:
If your organization handles large volumes of sensitive personal data, consider appointing a DPO to oversee compliance efforts.
The DPDP Act is a dynamic law. Stay informed about any updates or amendments to ensure ongoing compliance.
Consider using data protection tools and software to automate compliance processes and enhance data security.
Here’s how Privacient can help you
Privacient has a proven track record of guiding numerous clients through the journey of achieving compliance. Our Data Privacy experts can assist you in navigating the complex data privacy frameworks and can help your organization to meet all the necessary requirements.
For more details on how Privacient can help you secure our data please reach out to us at +91 8559065655 or contact@privacient.com.
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