BJD MP, six others give dissent notes on new data protection bill

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Seven Opposition members including a Member of Parliament from the Biju Janata Dal have given dissent notes on the Centre’s new data protection bill.

Members of the Congress, the Biju Janata Dal and the Trinamool Congress gave dissent notes to the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), which was examining the bill before it is taken up by the Parliament.

The dissenting MPs included Congress’s Jairam Ramesh, Manish Tewari, Gaurav Gogoi and Vivek Tankha, Biju Janata Dal’s Amar Patnaik, and Trinamool’s Derek O’Brien and Mahua Moitra.

The Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on December 11, 2019. Soon after, the bill was referred to the JPC which was to submit a report by the end of the budget session in 2020. However, extensions were given to the committee for five times.

The bill seeks to regulate personal data processing and will ensure that social media platforms and companies dealing with private data follow stringent guidelines.

However, the Opposition MPs stated that the proposed law will give unbridled power to the Central government and its agencies and allow them use the public order and national security clause in the bill.