WHY REAL ESTATE NEEDS TO MIND DATA PROTECTION LAW

IN an increasingly digital world, every aspect of commerce utilises internet services to promote businesses online.

- AMAR PATNAIK

The real estate industry is no exception, with buying and selling increasingly moving online. Given the digital revolution, regulating the processing of personal data online has become all the more crucial to protect individual data against possible privacy violations by real estate companies.

The Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023 (DPDPA) is a much-needed piece of legislation in this context. Even though it is not presently in force and does not contain specific transitional provisions such as timelines for issuance of rules and notifications, both the physical and digital parts of the real estate industry would have to comply with its provisions once the rules are out.

The DPDPA introduces significant changes in compliance requirements, data handling practices and potential legal implications for a data fiduciary, data principal, and data processor. For this, it proposes to repeal Sections 43A and 87(2)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000 and replacing it with Section 44(2) of DPDPA.

As a result, the IT (Reasonable security practices and procedures and sensitive personal data or information) Rules, 2011 that currently governs collection and handling of personal information in India, would also be repealed as they were notified under the IT Act.