Need to decide on public, pvt data: SC

The Supreme Court on Thursday said determining what constitutes “public data” and “private data” is crucial for deciding the validity of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023 and the corresponding Rules of 2025. The court agreed to examine a petition challenging the law along with a batch of similar petitions listed later this month.

- Abraham Thomas

The petition raised concerns of state surveillance and other issues.

(AN)

The court was dealing with a petition filed by journalist Geeta Seshu along with the Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLO) which raised concerns of state surveillance, exemptions granted to state agencies for gathering private data, compensation for cases of wrongful or illegal access, and lack of judicial oversight and independence of the Data Protection Board which adjudicates complaints.

A bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant said, “Ultimately the question to be determined is what is public data and what is private data.” The court