Privacy in Internet Era with Respect to Data Protection: A Legal Analysis

In the digital age data plays a huge role in our everyday life. People make a lot of money by selling this Data to advertising companies, on the other hand they also violate one’s privacy. For example, when one is shopping online, he/she has to type his/her name, contact number & address. Data Brokers are specialized in collecting this information and creating in-depth profiles of individuals for advertisers. This includes a person’s sexuality, browsing history, political affiliation, and even medical records. The digital age has created new ways to collect, access, analyse and use data not only in one’s country but across the borders. The internet business model runs on people sharing their personal data in exchange for access to content, services, and social media platforms. While one might not pay anything for going on Facebook, but Facebook still makes money by selling one’s personal information to advertisers. By clicking on “Agree to Terms & Conditions” the user technically consents to this model but in practice actually no one reads them. This is a problem because no one knows what they are really signing up to and this creates opportunities for misuse. As there are no boundaries for Internet and data therefore it becomes a global issue. Through this research the researcher is aims to analyse whether there are adequate laws in India to tackle the issue of data protection. As the issue of Data Protection is emerging in nature and there are few reported cases therefore the researcher has opted that research should be carried out on a legal proposition by way of analysing the existing statutory provisions. Besides, the introduction of The Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 has motivated the researcher to apply this approach to his research. Therefore, the researcher has opted for doctrinal method of research.