Misuse of Data Will End After Bill Is Passed: Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar Cautioned Against Sharing Phone Numbers With Retailers

NEW DELHI: Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology, encouraged consumers not to give their mobile numbers to shopkeepers “if there is no logical cause” for them to do so. He stated that once the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022 is passed, the misuse of digital personal data will cease.

The minister’s public service announcement comes in the wake of a popular tweet by a public health activist stating that he was requested to disclose his telephone number at a shop inside the Delhi airport in order to purchase a package of gum.

Do not give your mobile number if there is no reason for a retailer to obtain it. After the #DPDP bill is enacted, the misuse of Indians’ digital personal data will cease said the Minister in a tweeted on Saturday in response to a tweet by public health activist Dinesh S Thakur.

Thakur had tweeted that when he attempted to purchase a pack of gum at the Delhi airport, he was asked for his phone number.

When he questioned the shopkeeper why the necessity to provide his phone number, Thakur was told that it was for “security considerations”. However, when the Twitter user inquired further about the so-called security aspect, he received no response.

Apparently, the manager of the store was summoned after the interaction with Thakur, who further wrote on Twitter “what struck me was there were so many fellow tourists who obediently revealed this information even without batting an eyelid”.

In November 2022, the government released the long-awaited draught digital personal data protection bill, which includes penalties of up to Rs 500 crore for noncompliance and the establishment of a regulator.

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