HYderabad: 

The Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) launched the book “Privacy Right and Data Protection - Trust, Overreach and Erosion” written by Dr. S. Chakravarthy, IAS (Retd.), Honorary Visiting Professor at ASCI, on Saturday. The event featured notable figures in the field of governance and privacy rights.

Dr. N. Ramesh Kumar, IAS (Retd.), Director General of ASCI, welcomed the gathering, followed by opening remarks by Sri K. Padmanabhaiah, IAS (Retd.), Chairman of ASCI. Dr. Chakravarthy, the author, presented the book. S. Krishnan, IAS, Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, launched the book as the chief guest and delivered a thought-provoking address on the importance of data privacy.

Krishnan shared a personal anecdote that underscored the significance of privacy. During his time at the IMF, he was surprised to find a shredder in a friend’s house in the US, used to prevent identity theft. This revelation highlighted the growing concerns over personal data security, especially with the increasing amount of personal information shared and discarded in everyday life. Krishnan stressed the importance of awareness about the risks of personal data misuse and shared examples from his tenure as Finance Secretary of Tamil Nadu, where he introduced an integrated financial and human resource system to track government expenditure. He highlighted how carelessly shared usernames and passwords in both government and private sectors often lead to breaches of privacy.

Krishnan emphasized that while India has many privacy laws, their enforcement remains a challenge. He stressed the need for awareness about the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, which has been designed to be simple and accessible for everyone. He pointed out the significance of the certainty of punishment, not its severity, in ensuring compliance with privacy laws. The act also focuses on the principle of data minimization, advising against unnecessary data collection and promoting a balance between innovation and privacy protection.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act is currently in the final stages of rule notification, and its implementation will support the Justice Puttaswamy case, which recognizes the right to privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21.

The event concluded with a panel discussion featuring Prof. Srikrishna Deva Rao, Vice‐Chancellor of NALSAR, T. N. C. Ranga Rajan, former Judge of the Andhra Pradesh High Court, and Sri M. Gopalakrishna, IAS (Retd.), former Chairman of SCOPE. Sri Padmanabhaiah presented mementos to Krishnan and the panelists, and Dr. Ramesh Kumar delivered the vote of thanks, marking the successful launch of the book and the insightful discussions on privacy rights and data protection.