New Delhi: A delegation of civil society members including activists, academics, researchers and journalists on Tuesday (March 25) met Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi and MPs from several parties to put forth concerns regarding the amendments made to the RTI Act through the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act.
The delegation also highlighted the chilling effect of the DPDP Act on journalists, academics, activists, unions and political parties to access and use critical information for seeking accountability.
The delegation included activists Nikhil Dey, Anjali Bhardwaj and Amrita Johri from the National Campaign for Peoples’ Right to Information, Apar Gupta from Internet Freedom Foundation, Kamal Jaswal of Constitutional Conduct Group, academic Jayati Ghosh, former Central Information Commissioner Prof. M M Ansari and President of the Editor’s Guild Anant Nath.
Section 44(3) of the DPDP amends Section 8(1)(j) of RTI Act to exempt all personal information from disclosure. The civil society members highlighted that the RTI Act has already provided a nuanced and detailed framework for ensuring peoples’ right to information while also safeguarding personal information.
Personal information could be denied only if it had no relationship to any public activity or public interest; or would cause unwarranted invasion of privacy.
All these provisions have been done away with to provide a blanket exemption to all personal information.
This would imply even personal information needed for accountability – names of willful defaulters, names of contractors, lists of people for monitoring public programs and government works- will potentially be denied, said the delegation in a statement.
“Today, I had the opportunity to meet a diverse group of activists, editors, researchers, and domain experts in Parliament. They voiced serious concerns about the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, particularly its impact on the scope of the RTI Act,” Gandhi posted on X after the meeting.
Today, I had the opportunity to meet a diverse group of activists, editors, researchers, and domain experts in Parliament. They voiced serious concerns about the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, particularly its impact on the scope of the RTI Act.
This legislation, under… pic.twitter.com/ikDldTDfkK
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) March 25, 2025
‘Legislation curtails access to public information’
“This legislation, under the pretext of safeguarding privacy, curtails access to public information which is essential for citizens and journalists to hold the government accountable. The NDA government is attempting to shield itself from scrutiny, undermining transparency and weakening democratic oversight,” he added.
The activists said that the Act classifies all persons and entities who collect information as ‘data fiduciaries’, who are subject to stringent provisions. The Act empowers the Central government to exempt any government or private entity from the obligations of a data fiduciary- allowing for arbitrary use by the government.
The setting up of a Data Protection Board which is controlled by the Central government and has powers to impose penalties of up to 250 crores (which could be enhanced to 500 crore), raises concerns about the weaponization of the DPDP Act. The law also does not provide any exemptions for journalistic work, said the delegation.
The delegation also held a meeting with various MPs from different political parties to discuss the concerns regarding the implications of the DPDP Act on peoples’ ability to access and use information.
Several MPs, Digvijay Singh (INC), Manoj Kumar Jha (RJD), Kalanidhi V. (DMK), Mahua Moitra (TMC), V. Sivadasam (CPIM), Raja Ram Singh (CPIML), Shashikanth Senthil (INC), Gaurav Gogoi (INC) and Rajkumar Roat (BAP) endorsed a letter to the Minister for Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw, seeking a repeal of the amendments made to the RTI Act through Section 44(3) of the DPDP Act.
