In summer 2018, a new Indian Personal Data Protection Bill was released by a Committee of Experts formed under the Chairmanship of Justice B.N. Srikrishna (the “Bill”), accompanied by a report titled “A Free and Fair Digital Economy: Protecting Privacy, Empowering Indians.” After several months’ hiatus, reports are emerging of renewed impetus from India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (“MEITY”) for the Bill to be put before Parliament.

The proposed introduction of the Bill continues a global trend in the revision of data protection laws: from California to Canada, from Bahrain to Brazil, many jurisdictions have recently proposed, or are in the process of adopting, new, stricter data protection legislation that, to varying degrees, bears the hallmarks of the recently-effective EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”).

As the global data protection map evolves, what should multinational organisations do to remain compliant? National legislatures are contributing to a global patchwork of data protection policy and each new law has been shaped by different political and cultural motivations. Consequently, areas of incompatibility between regimes are becoming visible.

This article recaps on the key provisions of the proposed Bill, examines potential incompatibilities with the GDPR, and concludes with what this means for multinational organisations who may be required to navigate both frameworks.

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