Data protection bill proposes amending RTI Act to protect 'privacy'
The Union government, in its draft of the Digital Data Personal Protection Bill, 2022, has proposed an amendment to the Right to Information (RTI) Act. The proposed amendment seeks to deny any personal information regarding administration officials under the RTI Act's Section 8(1)(j), citing the protection of "individual privacy." The government released the draft of the Bill on Friday and sought public feedback.
Why does this story matter?
In August 2022, the Electronics & IT Ministry withdrew the draft Personal Data Protection Bill 2019 after a parliamentary committee suggested 81 amendments. In 2019, the government amended the RTI Act to give itself the power to appoint and fix terms and salaries of information commissioners. The Opposition, however, alleged that this amendment intended to weaken the 2005 Act, which the Centre had denied.
Government intends to weaken RTI Act: Former CIC
The RTI Act warranted sharing relevant personal information of government officials based on an RTI application, provided there's valid ground that disclosing the individual's information would serve a larger public interest. However, the proposed amendment seeks to bar the disclosure of personal information completely. Former Central Information Commissioner (CIC) Shailesh Gandhi said the government intended to weaken the information law with its proposed amendment.
Many fear it would shield officials facing allegations of corruption
Section 8(1)(j) most misused to hide information
While there are 10 exemptions provided in the RTI Act Section 8(1), experts say Section 8(1)(j) is one of the most misused provisions of the law. As many as 35% of the RTI applications are rejected by invoking it. The disclosure is exempted if it is not related to the public interest and if it causes an unwarranted invasion of privacy of the individual.
RTI application seeking information on Agnipath scheme rejected
Following the furor over the Agnipath scheme sanctioning ad hoc military recruitment, two months back, the Ministry of Defence rejected an RTI application seeking information on inter-ministerial deliberations regarding the scheme. The ministry, in its reply, said the files were classified as "secret." Meanwhile, RTI experts said the reason behind not sharing details wasn't covered under Sections 8 and 9 of the RTI Act.
