Carnegie India: Witnessing Live Debates over Data Localization

About the author: Benjamin Polsky is a master’s student with FSI’s Ford Dorsey Master’s in International Policy program. He is spending his summer working at Carnegie India in New Delhi as a Visiting Graduate Research Analyst with funding from FSI.

In my time at Carnegie India in New Delhi, I have been engaged in live debates over the government’s decision to begin exploring a requirement for data localization. In July of last year, the Srikrishna Committee submitted a draft bill that would require companies to house all personal data pertaining to Indian citizens in India. The bill is now under internal government review with MPs submitting their own draft bills ahead of the official debate in Parliament.

Working with the Technology and Society vertical at Carnegie India, I am researching how to better understand what data localization means in the Indian context. Does localization mean hard localization where all data on Indian citizens has to be housed in India or will it mean soft localization or mirroring where just copy of the data has to be housed in India? The question is still up for debate. Through a series of roundtables and consultations, I am working to separate fact from fiction so that if and when the government implements such a policy, it will be with a clear understanding of what it means (Shout-out to Arjun and Aruna).

Apart from my work, I was able to spend my Fourth of July eating an Indian burger and watching cricket. I still don’t understand the rules but I am learning!