Fulfilling India's Digital Dream Requires Careful Data Handling

The core infrastructure is porous, routinely leaking sensitive data, and exposing citizens, enterprises, and national systems to risk.

- SEMU BHATT

In my 2022 article, "Digital India Must Become Abuse Proof," dated 26 March 2022, I warned: "The Indian State is extremely poor in data protection and response to data breaches. For a country of a billion, we are a data mine, but we are blissfully ignoring the fact that data is the 21st century's oil as well as its deadliest weapon. It is both precious, and dangerous, and should be handled with utmost care."

Three years later, the Indian State's casual approach on data security remains unchanged.

DIGITAL VISION AT RISK
The Narendra Modi government has changed India's digital landscape, driving empowerment, inclusion, and innovation. While India is rapidly progressing to build a USD 1 trillion digital economy by 2028, the ambition is undercut by foundational vulnerabilities. The contradiction is profound: a nation leading the world in digital public infrastructure and scalable solutions, yet lacking basic safeguards to prevent hostile exploitation.

The core infrastructure is porous, routinely leaking sensitive data, and exposing citizens, enterprises, and national systems to risk. The mismatch between the pace of digitization and the investment in digital safety—both in literacy and security—is stark. This is not a merely central or state government issue; it is a national problem. The strategic importance of data protection as the bedrock of digital sovereignty and national security is largely absent from the collective Indian mindset. India even lacks a unified legal framework to secure its digital future.

The costs of this indifference are real. Financial and cybercrimes are escalating. Large volumes of personal data is seeping into adversarial hands, where it can be weaponised against Indian interests. Unless this foundational gap is closed, India's digital transformation could soon become its most dangerous vulnerability.

THE GST LEAK: A CASE STUDY IN SYSTEMIC INACTION