Let Indian Users Decide on Data Localisation: Experts

NEW DELHI: Amid the Indian government’s call to store data locally, experts here said on Friday that the consumers should be free to choose jurisdiction in which data can be stored and it might not be prudent to force data localisation. According to Venkatesh Krishnamoorthy, Country Manager, The Software Alliance, consumers should be free to choose jurisdiction in which data can be stored, and “different options could appear as a drop down menu to enable consumer choice”. Shagufta Kamran from the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF), a non-proft, observed that Indian information technology and enabled industry has traditionally benefited from cross border data flow and it might not be a good idea to restrict such flows.

Amitayu Sengupta from the Internet & Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) pointed out that setting up data centres is resource intensive and requires significant capitalisation and consequently has been avoided in the past. The experts were speaking at a roundtable organised by the advocacy group Consumer Unity & Trust Society. International. It saw participation from different stakeholders, including government, industry, consumer groups, academia and data protection experts. According to Dr Usha Ramanathan, Legal Researcher and Consumer Rights Activist, basis for the government to demand data localisation is not clear as the government is unlikely to provide heightened security and data protection standards to consumers. (IANS)