Large multinational technology firms, including big social media intermediaries, have sought greater clarity on proposed rules around data storage in foreign jurisdictions<\/a>, sources in the know told ET.
If the definition of trusted geographies changes too quickly – depending on geopolitics – significant investments in data storage<\/a> units may be adversely impacted, these companies are believed to have told the government.
According to the draft of the new Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill, 2022<\/a>, companies that process data of Indians can store data in “trusted geographies” <\/a>which may be specified from time to time by the government.
In meetings with senior officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology<\/a>, executives from the internet<\/a> intermediaries sought assurances that data storage norms, as and when decided, will not be “entirely dependent” on changing geopolitics, forcing companies to change the locations of their data storage units.
“The companies also sought assurances that the investments for data centres made so far will not be impacted adversely. They also wanted some clarity on how the trusted jurisdiction will be decided,” one of the sources said.
Though ministry officials did not formally commit on any aspect, sources said that they assured company representatives that the rule for storage of data in foreign jurisdictions, which will be formulated after the DPDP Bill<\/a> is passed by Parliament<\/a>, will be based on “common sense”.
“It certainly cannot be an exhaustive list of which countries the data will be allowed to be stored. Instead, it could be a list of a handful of geographies where data of Indians cannot be processed or transferred,” a senior ministry official said.
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