Anonymized medical data should be given an additional privacy shield
3 months, 1 week ago

Anonymized medical data should be given an additional privacy shield

Live Mint  

When I first saw the original blueprint of the Ayushman Bharat Digital Health Mission, the feature that really jumped out at me was its anonymizer module. This was the first time that a digital building block designed to de-identify personal data was being built directly into the digital workflow and I was excited by the possibilities that this offered. But, given that each individual element of medical data that comprises the data-set is personal, we would need the prior permission of each and every data principal in order to enable such secondary use. In other words, all it would take to unlock the full range of secondary uses of medical data is the effective conversion of all that personal medical information into non-personal data. What we may need to do, in addition, is apply some technical measure to augment the anonymization applied to a medical record in order to ensure adequate data protection.

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History of this topic

Healthcare providers resist digital health records because....
1 month, 1 week ago

Healthcare providers resist digital health records because....

The Hindu  

Resistance to digitisation of patient health records by many healthcare providers is because they do not want to be accountable, said Indu Bhushan, former chairman of National Health Authority and former CEO of Ayushman Bharat. Speaking at a panel discussion on “Future of Care: Revolutionising Healthcare Through Digital Innovation and Collaboration” at the Global Investors’ Meet on Thursday, Dr. Bhushan …

New Digital Rules Let You Wipe All Your Details Online
1 month, 3 weeks ago

New Digital Rules Let You Wipe All Your Details Online

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad: Can a customer walk into a multinational company like Amazon and ask it to remove all her information from the company's database? With the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025 released in public domain seeking comments and feedback, the citizens can now look forward to a framework through which they can exercise their right to privacy. The rules …

Mint Quick Edit | India’s new privacy rules: A mixed bag
2 months, 2 weeks ago

Mint Quick Edit | India’s new privacy rules: A mixed bag

Live Mint  

More than a year after the Digital Personal Data Protection Act was passed, the government has released the draft rules that will enable this law’s implementation. While the rules are expansive, their requirement of parental consent for under-18-year-olds to join social media and gaming platforms could deliver a pragmatic age-gating regime. That said, the return of data localization requirements will …

How safe is our personal health data with the Indian government? | In Focus podcast
1 year, 4 months ago

How safe is our personal health data with the Indian government? | In Focus podcast

The Hindu  

Just about a month ago, Rescurity, an American cyber security firm, said that personal information of 815 million Indians was being sold on the dark web. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences – AIIMS in Delhi has also been hit by cyber attacks – in one ransomware case, the hackers took over the servers, encrypted the data, and made …

Word choice in India’s data protection law and a dilution of rights
1 year, 7 months ago

Word choice in India’s data protection law and a dilution of rights

The Hindu  

After years of going back and forth on its contents, India finally has a data protection law, i.e., the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. In the search for an answer to this question, we need to look at two basic features of any data protection law: the use of personal data with consent and without it. As decades of …

Explained: India's new Digital Personal Data Protection framework
1 year, 7 months ago

Explained: India's new Digital Personal Data Protection framework

Hindustan Times  

A new law that defines how companies should process users' data came into force with the President giving assent to the Digital Personal Data Protection Act passed by Parliament in the just-concluded monsoon session. Digital Personal Data Protection law has been notified by government. Entities must protect personal data in their possession by taking reasonable security safeguards to prevent a …

Indranil Banerjie | A Law to Protect Citizens, Or To Help in State Snooping?
1 year, 7 months ago

Indranil Banerjie | A Law to Protect Citizens, Or To Help in State Snooping?

Deccan Chronicle  

In today’s digital age, privacy is a chimera -- the reality is that every intimate detail of our lives, from our eating and spending patterns to medical and financial details, are digitally recorded in some computer somewhere in the vast cloud and can therefore be potentially exposed. The idea of a digital data protection law had become imperative given the …

Explained: What is the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023?
1 year, 7 months ago

Explained: What is the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023?

Live Mint  

On 3 August, the long-awaited and much-debated Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2023 was introduced in the Lok Sabha. On 7 August, the Lok Sabha passed the bill, which aims to “provide for the processing of digital personal data in a manner that recognises both the right of individuals to protect their personal data and the need to process such …

New Data Protection Bill receives Cabinet's green light: Here's all you need to know
1 year, 8 months ago

New Data Protection Bill receives Cabinet's green light: Here's all you need to know

India TV News  

India's ongoing efforts to protect privacy and personal data have gained significance in light of the Supreme Court's recognition of privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution. The need for a robust data protection law became apparent following incidents of data breaches and unauthorized use of personal information by entities before stricter regulations were imposed globally. …

India’s shield of privacy should reflect Article 21
1 year, 8 months ago

India’s shield of privacy should reflect Article 21

Live Mint  

The monsoon session of Indian Parliament will likely take up a bill framed in response to the Supreme Court ruling of 24 August 2017 that said privacy is a fundamental right. The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, a draft of which was published last year to replace an unwieldy earlier proposal, got Cabinet approval this week as part of the …

Fix govt accountability for personal data leaks
1 year, 9 months ago

Fix govt accountability for personal data leaks

Hindustan Times  

Privacy – that elusive fundamental right – is again under the spotlight with reports of a possible breach of CoWIN data of individuals. Two provisions under the Information Technology Act, 2000 – Section 43A and Section 72A – encompass personal data protection in India. Pursuant to the Puttaswamy judgment of 2017, the central government released multiple drafts of the proposed …

Your medical device could be spying on you; industry demands protective laws
1 year, 11 months ago

Your medical device could be spying on you; industry demands protective laws

The Hindu  

Common medical devices such as oximeters, hearing aids, glucometers, and pacemakers can be turned into spyware and malware, say experts, warning that such devices can even leak your medical data if not layered with adequate cyber protection. Their warning comes close on the heels of the ransomware attacks suffered by India’s top tertiary care hospitals, leading to the siege of …

10 Important Data Protection Practices To Keep In Mind For A Startup In India
2 years ago

10 Important Data Protection Practices To Keep In Mind For A Startup In India

Live Law  

Recent years have seen a digital boom worldwide resulting in the explosion of digital data collection and distribution. In this regard, the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2022 has been proposed which will ensure fair use and disposal of digital personal data collected online and offline in India and also outside India by companies offering goods and services to individuals …

First Principles | What the new Data Protection Bill might look like
2 years, 5 months ago

First Principles | What the new Data Protection Bill might look like

Hindustan Times  

Ever wondered why do you get spammed with phone calls, emails and text messages from service providers of all kinds? In any case, this was the stated intent of the Personal Data Protection Bill which was withdrawn after much work had gone into it earlier in August this year. While the browser is free, the data that Chrome collects about …

No central storage of data, onus on hospitals to keep it safe: NHA chief
2 years, 6 months ago

No central storage of data, onus on hospitals to keep it safe: NHA chief

Hindustan Times  

There will be no central vault to store health data of patients who use Ayushman Bharat Health Account numbers, with the onus being on affiliated hospitals to store and protect the data, National Health Authority chief RS Sharma said in an interview to HT. India’s health data management policy acts as a guiding document for the national digital health ecosystem, …

Explained | Why has the government withdrawn the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019?
2 years, 7 months ago

Explained | Why has the government withdrawn the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019?

The Hindu  

The story so far: On Wednesday, August 3, the Central government withdrew the Personal Data Protection Bill that it had tabled in the Lok Sabha on December 11, 2019. Alongside this, the government has also said that it received several concerns from the tech industry — specifically from Indian start-ups — regarding the stipulations on data localisation in the Bill. …

India wants to protect your data. Should you worry?
3 years, 2 months ago

India wants to protect your data. Should you worry?

Al Jazeera  

After it introduced a Personal Data Protection Bill in December 2019 to protect people’s personal data, India said it would set up a data protection authority to do the job. The bill lists about six categories to define personal data, including an individual’s name, mobile number, biometrics – anything that can identify a person. Moreover, the fact that India, a …

Privacy must be upheld as a fundamental right
3 years, 3 months ago

Privacy must be upheld as a fundamental right

Live Mint  

In a world beset with rapidly-evolving technology, the deliberative process of law making has no chance of keeping pace. In 2017, the Supreme Court effectively declared the Right to Privacy a fundamental right, as it’s “intrinsic” to our guarantee of “life and personal liberty” under the Constitution’s Article 21 and other basic freedoms. To encode this self-evident truth by way …

Data Protection Bill Rooted in User Rights & Privacy Will Ensure Success of Digital Health Mission
3 years, 4 months ago

Data Protection Bill Rooted in User Rights & Privacy Will Ensure Success of Digital Health Mission

News 18  

Digital healthcare is a promising prospect. The proposed Personal Data Protection bill categorises health data as sensitive personal data, which would mean that there are enhanced protections in place that would grant more rights to the data principals and place more obligation on the data fiduciaries. The ABDM’s Health Data Management Policy distinguishes between EHRs, EMRs, personal data, and sensitive …

A scheme before its time: The Hindu Editorial on digital health mission
3 years, 5 months ago

A scheme before its time: The Hindu Editorial on digital health mission

The Hindu  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the National Digital Health Mission, the most salient aspect of which is that all citizens will have the option of voluntarily opting for a Health ID, a 14-digit health identification number that will uniquely identify every citizen and will be a repository of their medical history. India’s federal structure, the size of its population …

With telemedicine, access to proper healthcare will no longer be a problem for the average Indian citizen
3 years, 6 months ago

With telemedicine, access to proper healthcare will no longer be a problem for the average Indian citizen

Firstpost  

54 percent of patients think telemedicine is not reliabile, 30 percent aren’t comfortable with technology and data privacy is an area of concern along with regulatory approval for LEO-based internet access. Despite all government schemes, access to healthcare continues to be a problem for the average Indian citizen. An important change in healthcare consumer behaviour is the acceptance of digital …

Why the Personal Data Protection Bill matters
3 years, 11 months ago

Why the Personal Data Protection Bill matters

The Hindu  

The pandemic has forced more people to participate in the digital economy. However, the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019, now under scrutiny by a Joint Parliamentary Committee, could play a big role in providing robust protections to users and their personal data. However, this data protection regime falls short of providing effective protection to users and their personal data. In …

India's Overdue Appointment With Data Privacy
4 years, 4 months ago

India's Overdue Appointment With Data Privacy

Live Law  

The past couple of years have been very exciting for data privacy enthusiasts in India. by the Supreme Court of India, which has enunciated the Right to Privacy as a fundamental right falling under Article 21 which guarantees Protection Of Life And Personal Liberty under the aegis of the Indian Constitution to the introduction of the Personal Data Protection Bill, …

Protection of Personal Data Should Be Backed by Law, Says RBI Executive Director Rabi Sankar
4 years, 5 months ago

Protection of Personal Data Should Be Backed by Law, Says RBI Executive Director Rabi Sankar

News 18  

Protection of personal data should be backed by a legal provision as it will help ensure privacy and confidentiality of individuals, a senior RBI official said on Tuesday. Data protection is crucial because privacy and confidentiality of individuals is their right under the Constitution, RBI Executive Director T Rabi Sankar said. "I strongly believe that the protection of use of …

Privacy In Times Of Corona : Problems With Publication Of Personal Data Of Covid-19 Victims
4 years, 11 months ago

Privacy In Times Of Corona : Problems With Publication Of Personal Data Of Covid-19 Victims

Live Law  

These are unprecedented times for independent India, where a public healthcare crisis has brought the world down to its knees. This throws up an important question given the State's determination to prevent the community spread of Covid-19 : What happens to 'Privacy' in times of Corona? It has been explained in the Puttaswamy judgments that, "whenever challenge is laid to …

Coronavirus Outbreak: India must take cue from EU, US on addressing data protection concerns during pandemic
5 years ago

Coronavirus Outbreak: India must take cue from EU, US on addressing data protection concerns during pandemic

Firstpost  

India, whilst dealing with the pandemic, also faces challenges on the privacy forefront specifically because there is no law in place for data protection. Firstly, it emphasises on protection of personal data according to the Chinese Laws and Regulations that govern Cyber-security and prevention of Public Health Emergencies. The European Union, which has a more nuanced law regarding data protection, …

For a data firewall: The Hindu Editorial on need for a data protection law
5 years, 1 month ago

For a data firewall: The Hindu Editorial on need for a data protection law

The Hindu  

The report by a German cybersecurity firm that medical details of millions of Indian patients were leaked and are freely available on the Internet is worrying. Such information has the potential to be mined for deeper data analysis and for creating profiles that could be used for social engineering, phishing and online identity theft, among other practices that thrive on …

World Health Day 2019: Technology, analytics are revolutionising healthcare in India
5 years, 11 months ago

World Health Day 2019: Technology, analytics are revolutionising healthcare in India

Firstpost  

The global healthcare industry is going through a transformation. Big data can play a big role in improving personalized and precision medicine, comparing drug effectiveness data and better treatment decisions while also potentially impacting the way clinical trials are conducted in remarkable ways. Hospitals and medical centers can use healthcare analytics to match the patient to the most appropriate doctors, …

Are Indian hospitals prepared for the new age of mhealth and digital healthcare?
6 years ago

Are Indian hospitals prepared for the new age of mhealth and digital healthcare?

Firstpost  

With the pace of growth of data in all formats, sizes and speeds, it is getting difficult for enterprises to get timely, accurate and actionable insights. Healthcare providers aren’t the only ones using mobile health technologies to access clinical information, collaborate with teams, communicate with patients and peers and offer healthcare remotely. It is interesting to note that last year …

India’s data protection law: Strengthen rules but also follow through to the last mile
6 years, 2 months ago

India’s data protection law: Strengthen rules but also follow through to the last mile

Hindustan Times  

News of the Washington DC attorney general’s case against Facebook has brought the spectre of Cambridge Analytica back with a bang. While it remains to be proven, the checklist of violations in the US case against Facebook is indicative of what is in store for users of many online platforms – from allegations of misleading privacy settings to indiscriminate sharing …

Ayushman Bharat scheme officer shares patients' data
6 years, 6 months ago

Ayushman Bharat scheme officer shares patients' data

Deccan Chronicle  

Hyderabad: Privacy of healthcare data took a toll as over-enthusiastic as one minister and a top health officer shared the medical data of people who were admitted in the Ayushman Bharat scheme on social media. Mr Sarma said, “It’s heartening to share that within 24 hours of its launch, we have given the benefits of Ayushman Bharat to 21 needy …

Personal Data Protection Bill: Right step, but fighting fraud will be a tight rope walk for most companies
6 years, 7 months ago

Personal Data Protection Bill: Right step, but fighting fraud will be a tight rope walk for most companies

Firstpost  

The 67 page draft of the recently released Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018 has outlined some much needed critical steps to create a framework for privacy and protecting personal data of individuals in India. What is intriguing to note is that one would need to seek consent from the individual prior to processing his/her personal data. Whether an individual storing …

Getting serious about data protection, but it’s still a long way to go
6 years, 7 months ago

Getting serious about data protection, but it’s still a long way to go

Live Mint  

On 27 July, India got a glimpse into what could be its own version of the EU GDPR. The draft Indian Personal Data Protection Bill or PDPB was tabled after nearly a year of consultations by a committee headed by justice B.N. While it has garnered initial criticism from industry circles as being overly stringent, less flexible, a threat to …

Privacy regulations must have users at the centre of data protection conversation
6 years, 7 months ago

Privacy regulations must have users at the centre of data protection conversation

Firstpost  

In most big data industry business models, the users aren’t even the customer. Last week, a committee of experts led by Justice Srikrishna submitted a report and a draft bill for establishing a regulatory framework for data protection and privacy. The main culprits: a bureaucratic approach to policy-making_—non-inclusive and laggard and The user not being put at the centre of …

Law on privacy, data protection should apply to everyone, says Nandan Nilekani
6 years, 8 months ago

Law on privacy, data protection should apply to everyone, says Nandan Nilekani

Live Mint  

Bengaluru: Concerns over online data and user privacy have been growing and a government-appointed committee, led by justice B.N. Ahead of the submission of the panel’s report, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has released a set of recommendations on data privacy that favour giving users control of their data and personal information. In an interview on Tuesday, Nandan Nilekani, …

What is the E.U. law on data protection all about?
6 years, 11 months ago

What is the E.U. law on data protection all about?

The Hindu  

The European Union General Data Protection Regulation is, arguably, the most notable change in the data protection regime in the last two decades. The GDPR reflects a paradigm shift in the understanding of the relationship individuals have with their personal data, granting the citizen substantial rights in his/her interaction with data controllers, and data processors. Additionally, the GDPR requires those …

Understanding the Data Protection White Paper Part V: Clicking on the ‘I Accept’ button before proceeding to use a service or app
7 years, 3 months ago

Understanding the Data Protection White Paper Part V: Clicking on the ‘I Accept’ button before proceeding to use a service or app

Firstpost  

People are unaware that with this simple click they have given away hordes of extremely private information on themselves to the apps or service providers. This article is Part 5 of a multi-part series explaining the recently issued white paper on data protection in India. The responses to the white paper will help in the formulation of India’s future data …

Right to Privacy: Challenges around Aadhaar provide greater impetus for formation of a strong data privacy law
7 years, 6 months ago

Right to Privacy: Challenges around Aadhaar provide greater impetus for formation of a strong data privacy law

Firstpost  

While the ruling will certainly give an advantage to the critics of Aadhaar, the fundamental services for public good should remain unaffected A nine-judge bench of the Supreme Court pronounced that right to privacy is a fundamental right in a verdict on 21 August. The constitutional bench headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar ruled that “right to privacy is an …

Doctors question medical record confidentiality, fear 'dark web' revelations will stop patients using digital medical files
7 years, 8 months ago

Doctors question medical record confidentiality, fear 'dark web' revelations will stop patients using digital medical files

ABC  

Doctors say they have concerns about patient confidentiality after revelations the Medicare card details of Australians have been sold online, but have urged people not to opt out of a digital medical file scheme that will be implemented for all Australians next year. Key points: Federal police investigating after Guardian journalist bought his details from "dark web" AMA says breach …

Data Protection In India
7 years, 10 months ago

Data Protection In India

Live Law  

People are increasingly making their personal information available publically. Data Quality Principle entails that personal data should be relevant to the purposes for which they are to be used, and, to the extent necessary for those purposes, should be accurate, complete and kept up-to-date Personal data should be kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no …

Data Protection In India
7 years, 10 months ago

Data Protection In India

Live Law  

People are increasingly making their personal information available publically. Data Quality Principle entails that personal data should be relevant to the purposes for which they are to be used, and, to the extent necessary for those purposes, should be accurate, complete and kept up-to-date Personal data should be kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no …

SC reserves order on Aadhaar: Privacy act is urgent requirement to save India from dangers of data breach
7 years, 10 months ago

SC reserves order on Aadhaar: Privacy act is urgent requirement to save India from dangers of data breach

Firstpost  

The recent news about government websites leaking Aadhaar data has been unsettling for many supporters of the scheme. Not limiting itself to the protection of personal data within EU, the regulation also envisages safeguards when data is to be exported outside EU. In India, the IT Act 2000 with the amendment in 2008 through section 43a, imposes a penalty on …

Key design elements for data protection
8 years, 1 month ago

Key design elements for data protection

Live Mint  

The age of Big Data, the growing pervasiveness of Aadhaar, and the government’s exhortations to “go cashless” have led to a re-emergence of interest in privacy and data protection in India. Although the operation of many laws such as the Information Technology Act, Aadhaar Act, Right to Information Act, and various other delegated legislation have an impact on the privacy …

Indian Data Protection Norms Inadequate: Vidhi Report [Read Report]
8 years, 2 months ago

Indian Data Protection Norms Inadequate: Vidhi Report [Read Report]

Live Law  

A report, prepared by think-tank Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, has claimed that India’s existing data protection norms are inadequate and address only a portion of what jurisdictions across the world have done for data protection.The report titled, ‘Building an effective data protection regime’ has been drafted by Ms. Sreenidhi Srinivasan and Ms. Namrata Mukherjee, research fellows. A report, prepared …

Indian Data Protection Norms Inadequate: Vidhi Report [Read Report]
8 years, 2 months ago

Indian Data Protection Norms Inadequate: Vidhi Report [Read Report]

Live Law  

A report, prepared by think-tank Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, has claimed that India’s existing data protection norms are inadequate and address only a portion of what jurisdictions across the world have done for data protection.The report titled, ‘Building an effective data protection regime’ has been drafted by Ms. Sreenidhi Srinivasan and Ms. Namrata Mukherjee, research fellows. A report, prepared …

Our Medical Data Must Become Free
9 years, 1 month ago

Our Medical Data Must Become Free

Wired  

Getting access to your medical information is supposed to be good for you, and good for the country. You may be forced to scale massive bureaucracies, combat insane copyright laws, sneak into secret data stashes, hack into medical devices—or perhaps even locate a working fax machine. Data analytics companies purchase millions of electronic health records, lab test results, and insurance …

Undervaluing privacy
9 years, 8 months ago

Undervaluing privacy

The Hindu  

The Attorney General’s contention in the Supreme Court that privacy is not a fundamental right is disquieting in the context of the ongoing debate over the implications of the collection of biometric data from citizens. However, the government’s stand may give rise to the doubt whether it is truly committed to protecting its citizens from violations of their privacy by …

Indian law only determines the situations where privacy will be afforded legal protection
10 years, 6 months ago

Indian law only determines the situations where privacy will be afforded legal protection

Live Mint  

After the massive leak on 3 August involving nude pictures of many Hollywood celebrities like Jennifer Lawrence, Selena Gomez, Kate Upton and Ariana Grande, celebrities are confronted with a serious copyright issue. Rule 3 of the Rules provides an aggregated definition of sensitive personal data as follows: Sensitive personal data or information of a person means such personal information which …

Not just Aadhaar: your privacy is under threat from all kinds of players
10 years, 7 months ago

Not just Aadhaar: your privacy is under threat from all kinds of players

Firstpost  

Your private data and information is now in too many hands and there is almost nothing you can do about it if it falls in the wrong hands. We need a strong privacy protection law to protect citizen data The privacy of India’s citizens is under threat, thanks to a weak state. India is a weak state as it enables …

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