NEW DELHI: In the Centre’s first formal push to enforce compliance with Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act across the govt, Cabinet Secretary T V Somanathan has directed all central ministries, state govts and UT administrations to prepare time-bound implementation plans and appoint senior nodal officers to oversee compliance with the law.In a letter addressed to all secretaries at Centre and chief secretaries of states, Somanathan has asked them to accord high priority to the implementation of DPDP Act, stressing that the legislation is critical for protecting personal data and strengthening public trust in digital governance while enabling its lawful use.
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Somanathan has outlined steps, including identification of personal data processing activities and preparation of data inventories, review of consent and grievance-redressal mechanisms, establishment of governance structures, the strengthening of technical and organisational safeguards, review of contracts with third-party data processors, capacity building of officials and adoption of privacy-by-design principles in govt digital services.The communication noted that govt entities functioning as “data fiduciaries” under the Act are required to put in place measures for compliance. Ministries, departments and state govts have been asked to undertake a systematic review of their digital systems, data-processing practices and governance mechanisms.Somanathan said the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the nodal ministry for the Act, has initiated guidance material supply, awareness campaigns, capacity-building programmes and stakeholder consultations to support its implementation.He has sought status reports on the law’s implementation so that common challenges can be addressed in a coordinated manner.
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