Smriti Parsheera is a researcher at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, and a fellow at the CyberBRICS project. Her areas of interest include privacy and digital rights, regulatory governance, and competition policy.
Many observers posit that a stark contest between democracy and autocracy will shape the governance of technology and data. But two Asian democracies, India and Korea, are carving out distinctive paths on data policy, not just following Western or Chinese models.
On November 5, we hosted 'Data Architectures in the BRICS Countries', with the CyberBRICS Project at FGV Law School, Rio de Janeiro, which aimed to create a space for the exchange of information about the evolving data architectures in the BRICS countries.
In this video, Smriti Parsheera and Prateek Jha evaluate India’s present mechanisms for data access by law enforcement authorities and existing arrangements for cross-border data access. It also analyzes the emerging global movement toward direct data access arrangements.
Any discussion on personal data access in India necessarily requires a reiteration of the Supreme Court's Puttaswamy verdict, which declared privacy a fundamental right.
Access to cross-border data is an integral piece of the law enforcement puzzle. India is well placed to lead the discussions on international data agreements subject to undertaking necessary surveillance reforms.
