India’s information security law can possibly drive the digital economy, says Facebook

Social media goliath Facebook on Friday said that the information insurance law in progress can possibly push the nation’s digital economy and global digital trade.

The organization’s comment came following a conference by a Joint Committee of Parliament on Data Protection Bill, 2019, led by BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi.

“We deeply appreciate the opportunity to discuss data regulation issues with the Hon’ble Members of Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection Bill. We believe that India’s data protection law has the potential to propel the country’s digital economy and global digital trade, and we wholeheartedly support this effort,” a Facebook company spokesperson said.

The parliamentary panel on Friday tested social media giant Facebook about the quantum of their income, benefit, and tax payouts in India and asked what portion of their profit were being used for information security in the nation, sources said.

Facebook India’s policy head Ankhi Das showed up before the Joint Committee of Parliament.

“That is why we deeply appreciate to be a part of this discussion and will continue to work alongside governments and regulators to find the right solutions which not only protect users’ privacy but are also interoperable with other major global privacy regulations,” the company spokesperson said.

Ms. Das was addressed for two hours and posed some extreme and looking through inquiries by the panel members from over the political spectrum, sources said.

During the meeting, a member recommended that the social media platform ought not to draw inferences from the information of its clients for commercial advantages of its advertisers or for electoral purposes, they said.

The MPs additionally tried to know the income Facebook produces from India and what percentage of the income is spent on shields for information assurance, as per sources.

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