New Delhi (Sputnik) — American technology giants are planning intense lobbying against proposed data protection laws in India, which include a government plan to make data storage localization mandatory for foreign firms in India.
Reuters, in a recent report, pointed out that the Indian move could undermine already strained economic relations between India and the United States as the American tech industry has considered pitching the issue as a trade concern, including at a 2+2 dialogue slated for September this year.
READ MORE: Local Data Storage is India’s Sovereign, Legal Requirement — Expert
"It will be a litmus test to who our establishment serves," a senior security and strategy consultant working closely with the Indian government told Sputnik under the condition of anonymity.
American technology firms worry that the mandate would hurt their planned investments by raising costs related to the establishment of new local data centers.
READ MORE: India Reiterates it will Not Allow Data Mining for Political Purposes
"In a meeting, last week organized by lobby group US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, executives from Facebook, Mastercard, Visa, American Express, PayPal, Amazon, Microsoft and others discussed plans to approach Indian lawmakers, including Indian parliamentary panels on information technology (IT) and finance, sources said. The industry also discussed approaching media and internet groups to explain why data localization would be bad for India's booming IT, e-commerce and payments landscape," the Reuters report reads.
The increasing use of digital platforms in India for shopping or social networking have made it a lucrative market for technology companies, but a rising number of data breaches have pushed New Delhi to develop strong data protection rules.