A high-level panel of experts has recommended to the Indian government that there should be a complete prohibition on the cross-border transfer of personal critical user data while emphasizing that such data be processed locally.
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Submitting a comprehensive report on Friday, the committee of experts, under the chairmanship of Justice BN Srikrishna, also recommended a hefty penalty to firms found guilty of the violation.
"Sensitive or critical personal data will include passwords, financial data, health data, official identifier, sex life, sexual orientation, biometric and genetic data, and data that reveals transgender status, intersex status, caste, tribe, religious or political beliefs or affiliations of an individual," the report reads.
The committee has further recommended that in case of data misuse, the penalty may extend up to 4 percent of the guilty firm's total worldwide turnover of the preceding financial year.
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The committee was tasked to make the recommendations following reports of enormous misuse of data by global firms, thereby increasing the scrutiny by governments across the world on how companies handle user data.