Joint Paper on Enabling Data Transfers for India-UK Digital Trade

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Joint Paper on Enabling Data Transfers for India-UK Digital Trade

Garima Prakash

@GarimaP

May 26, 2022

Public Policy

292

NASSCOM, UK India Business Council (UKIBC) and TechUK have released a Joint Position Paper on Enabling Data Transfers for India-UK Digital Trade aimed at promoting data protection in both countries while enabling free flow of data in the UK-India corridor. This is in furtherance of the recent decision of the Governments of India and UK to formalise a bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The technology sectors in both the countries are perfectly geared to play a significant role in doubling the bilateral trade target by 2030.

Indian Tech Industry is a significant investor in UK and plays a leading role in achieving India’s position as the second largest source of foreign investment into the UK. It does so by employing local talent, upskilling them, making corporate UK more competitive and enabling it to grow. Key driver for this growth is the digital revenues which is 30-32% and growing at 25% yoy. At the same time there are over 100+ British Capability Centres in India leveraging India’s digital talent, innovative capabilities and scale to drive enterprise competitiveness, solving complex problems and managing risk. There are a number of SME companies from both side that work and collaborate with each other to solve business problems.

Digital trade is inextricably linked to the exchange of information, and hence a regime for data transfers along with protection of personal information is crucial, for growing the £24.3 billion total trade in goods and services between the UK and India, according to UK Department of International Trade estimates.

Given this context, this joint position paper outlines the suggestions on behalf of the technology sector in India and UK on the steps that may be taken under the proposed FTA to deepen the digital trade relationship by strengthening the data protection and international transfer framework.

This paper is divided into three parts. In the first part, we offer recommendations to both the governments on the potential commitments on cross border data transfers and protection of personal information in the proposed FTA. We encourage both governments to commit to the protection of personal information via adequate and comprehensive legal regimes. For cross-border data transfers and location of computing facilities, we suggest that governments undertake measures that are least onerous while pursuing public policy, national security, or strategic objectives.

In the second part, we focus on the domestic data protection and transfer regimes. We commend the efforts being taken by both countries in finalising their respective domestic legal regimes on data protection and transfers. India, via the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), is currently considering the latest iteration of a comprehensive draft data protection law- the Data Protection Bill of 2021 (DPB 2021) that was released by a Joint Parliamentary Committee, post reviewing an earlier version called the Personal Data Protection Bill of 2019 (PDP Bill). On the other hand, UK, through its Department for Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS), has recently concluded a consultation process on taking its current framework on data regulation in ‘a new direction’ by considering reforms needed to secure a ‘pro-growth and trusted data regime’. We offer suggestions on the specific areas where both countries could focus on, with a view to enhance ease of doing business and to enable the regulatory systems to be future ready.

Given that the UK Government has recently listed India as a priority destination for a future data adequacy partnership, in the third part, we outline the path towards an India-UK data adequacy partnership. Such a partnership will enable an open corridor for cross-border data transfers, innovation and collaboration between the two sides. We urge the UK Government to leverage the FTA negotiations to kick-start the conversation on a data adequacy partnership with India. In this context, we submit that an early enactment of a data protection law by the Government of India will be a key step towards a data adequacy partnership.

The joint paper can be downloaded from here.

For more information, kindly write to garima@nasscom.in.

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Garima Prakash

Manager, Public Policy and Government Affairs

Reach out to me for all things policy about e-commerce, international trade, export controls, start-ups and fintech