This is the third report in our series of events coverage from Delhi and Bangalore on India’s Data Protection Law. Click here to read the rest. The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018, drafted by the (Retd) Justice Srikrishna Committee was handed over to the government in August 2018, along with the committee's report. At MediaNama's #NAMAprivacy discussions on the bill in Delhi and Bangalore, it was argued that the bill has shortcomings when it comes to surveillance reform and governance of government data. Panelists and participants also highlighted that the bill does not do enough to address mass state surveillance and allows for wide exemptions to the state for collection of data. It has also been argued that the Indian state already practices surveillance by way of DRDO's NEtwork TRaffic Analysis (NETRA) and Central Monitoring System (CMS). These systems came into place through executive orders, as well as by way of legislation such as the IT Act, among others, which allow for state surveillance of citizens. Finally, there are concerns over how the UIDAI, the governing body of Aadhaar, and the Data Protection Authority, as envisaged in the current bill, will interact with one another. [caption id="attachment_190574" align="aligncenter" width="848"] From left: Nikhil Pahwa (moderator), Smitha Prasad, Vrinda Bhandari, Bedavyasa Mohanty, and Jyoti Panday[/caption] [caption id="attachment_190565" align="aligncenter" width="826"] From left: Anand Venkatanarayanan, Manasa Venkataraman, Alok Prasanna Kumar, and moderator Nikhil Pahwa[/caption] The following key points were made on surveillance at both the discussions: Data privacy bill: Is surveillance legal or illegal?…
