SECTION 44(3) OF THE DIGITAL PERSONAL DATA PROTECTION (DPDP) ACT, 2023

NEWS: The Supreme Court referred a batch of petitions challenging Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023, to a larger Constitution Bench.

Key Features of Section 44(3) of DPDP Act 2023

• Section 44(3) of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, amends Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act, 2005,
  • Granting statutory primacy to data privacy over the public’s right to information.
• The amendmentà converts a conditional exemption into a blanket statutory bar on disclosure of personal information.
• Public Information Officersà can no longer disclose personal data even when a demonstrably larger public interest is established.
• Provision ensuring that information available to Parliament or State Legislatures must also be accessible to citizens has been deleted.
• A connection to “public activity or interest” àno longer serves as a legal justification for disclosure
• Removing the “unwarranted invasion of privacy” threshold makes rejecting personal-data requests the legal default for authorities.

Key Concerns

• Public officials may invoke the “personal data” classificationà to deny access to asset declarations, educational degrees, or disciplinary records.
• The amendment removes the discretion of Public Information Officers àto balance larger public interest against individual privacy claims.
• Right to Privacy under Article 21 ànow carries greater statutory weight than the Right to Information under Article 19(1)(a).
• The provision creates doctrinal tension with Section 8(2) of the RTI Act, which mandates disclosure when public interest outweighs protected interests.
• Fear of high financial penalties under the DPDP Act for wrongful data processing discourages officials from exercising disclosure powers.