Data Protection Bill poses severe restrictions to RTI Act, NCPRI cautions govt.

Source: The post is based on the article “Data Protection Bill poses severe restrictions to RTI Act, NCPRI cautions govt.” published in The Hindu on 15th July 2023

What is the News?

The National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information (NCPRI) has warned that the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill will severely restrict the scope of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

How does the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Bill affect the Right to Information (RTI) Act?

Digital Personal Data Protection Bill (DPDP Bill) seeks to amend the  Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act.

According to Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act,  in order to deny personal information at least one of the following grounds has to be proven: 1) information sought has no relationship to any public activity or information sought has no relationship to any public interest or 2) information sought would cause an unwarranted invasion of privacy and 3) PIO/appellate authority is satisfied that there is no larger public interest that justifies disclosure.

The Bill proposes to remove all these exemptions prohibiting government agencies from sharing private information of any kind, regardless of the public interest it may entail.

This will severely restrict the scope of  the RTI Act and adversely impact the ability of people to access information.