Thread by @gautambhatia88

A group of us (twenty lawyers) have submitted our response to the Justice Srikrishna Committee on the issue of a data protection law. You can access our submission here:
drive.google.com/viewerng/viewe…
And read @aparatbar's introduction --
apargupta.com/srikrishna-sub…
(1/n)

We have submitted eight recommendations to the Committee, flowing from our believe that a Data Protection Law must conform to the basic constitutional principle of putting the individual and her welfare at the heart of any legal regime. (2/n)

Our first recommendation is that a Data Protection Law should not be framed as a "trade-off" between innovation and data protection, but as achieving a legal framework where innovation is put at the service of individual autonomy and self-determination. (3/n)

Our second recommendation is that the law should adopt a principle-based approach drawing from the AP Shah Committee Report, the EUGDPR, and the Supreme Court's privacy judgment (all links provided in the body of the report). (4/n)

Our third recommendation is that privacy principles must be enforced by an independent and empowered regulator (a privacy commissioner). (5/n)

Our fourth recommendation is that Aadhaar, in its present form, is in conflict with a citizen-centric and privacy-oriented data protection law, and must be rethought accordingly. We have explained why we think so. (6/n)

Our fifth recommendation is for an effective and citizen-friendly adjudicatory mechanism, and we've provided outlines for how this might be achieved. (7/n)

Our sixth recommendation is that a data protection law is incomplete without comprehensive reform of the surveillance regime. We provide an argument for what that surveillance reform might look like (including no dragnet or mass surveillance). (8/n)

Our seventh recommendation is privacy, data protection and the right to information are all pillars of liberal democracy, and a data protection regime must support and strengthen the right to public information. (9/n)

Our final recommendation is a call for ​international harmonisation that recognises cross-border data flows to
protect the open internet. (10/n)

In the interests of transparency, the names of all the individuals who contributed to this response, and all who have endorsed it, is on page 2. The response is in the public domain:
drive.google.com/viewerng/viewe…
(11/n)

We hope to make common cause with friends and colleagues such as @cis_india, @SFLCin, and @CCGNLUD, and with international experts such as @grahamgreenleaf and @privacyint, to achieve a strong data protection law that facilitates individual autonomy and self-determination. (12/n)

Thanks for reading, and we hope you'll enjoy reading the document as well. One last time, the link to our submission:
drive.google.com/viewerng/viewe…
And @aparatbar's introduction:
apargupta.com/srikrishna-sub…

(13/13)