“The non-personal data (NPD) regulation should be to promote this one (market) through very soft-touch regulations. There are chances of market failure, once the market is developed then the regulation has to be a little stronger than before,” said Dr. Amar Patnaik at the launch of the EY-IAMAI report on the impact assessment of the Non-Personal Data Governance (NPGD) framework. Patnaik is a Rajya Sabha MP and one of the members of the Joint Parliamentary Committee tasked with studying the draft Data Protection bill. He stressed that the main purpose of the NPGD framework should be to promote a market like the Union government had envisioned in the telecom sector with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in the past. “The question of possible misuse of non-personal data to create disharmony in society will happen later,” he said. “Respecting data as an asset, and for using this asset to generate revenue or income, a market has to be developed but the (expert) committee’s report assumes (the market) by identifying different categories which then will be used for different purposes. The assumption is esoteric,” Dr. Patnaik asserted in his speech. Patnaik’s involvement in the PDP bill review puts him in a position where his thoughts on the shape of a NPD framework could reverberate with stakeholders. Key takeaways from Dr. Patnaik’s address Difference between personal and non-personal data: “The basic differentiating factor is the privacy element in personal data. We cannot put non personal data on the same pedestal because the purpose…
