Data bill suggests key changes to RTI law
The Central authorities has proposed amending the Right To Information (RTI) Act to defend man or woman privateness with the aid of using denying any non-public facts thru an modification withinside the proposed facts safety regulation, the draft of which changed into launched on Friday. The draft of the Digital Data Protection Bill proposes to cast off 8.1 (j) phase of the RTI Act, which lets in facts commissioner to decide if non-public facts approximately management officers may be launched withinside the extra public hobby.
This is for the primary time the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) authorities has proposed adjustments withinside the RTI Act associated with provisions concerning sharing of facts. The authorities in 2019 had amended the RTI Act provisions concerning appointment and salaries of the facts commissioners with the aid of using giving itself powers to repair time period and salaries of commissioners.
Under RTI Act, facts approximately an man or woman with the authorities, such as its employees, may be shared following an RTI software furnished there’s sufficient floor that this may serve large public hobby. The facts may be shared with the software thru a talking order giving motives why sharing the facts will serve the massive public hobby. But, nearly a 3rd of the whole rejections of RTI programs are with the aid of using invoking phase 8.1 (j) and the availability is stated to be one of the maximum misused elements of the regulation, in keeping with professionals. The proposed Data Protection bill, whose draft changed into shared with the aid of using the authorities with public in Friday, has proposed to considerably extrade phase 8.1 (j).
“The words “the disclosure of which has no courting to any public hobby or hobby, or which could motive unwarranted invasion of the privateness of the man or woman except the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer or the appellate authority, because the case can be, is glad that the bigger public hobby justifies the disclosure of such facts” will be omitted,” the draft stated. With this, the amended phase 8.1 (j) exemption could read “facts which pertains to non-public facts”.
While the facts regulation inspiration states that is on the way to convey in “consistency”, professionals stated this will provide a cowl to deprave officers. RTI activist Shailesh Gandhi referred to as the inspiration an strive of the NDA authorities to weaken the facts regulation. “The gift authorities amended the provisions regarding the fame and tenure of the Information Commissions however did now no longer contact the exemptions,” Gandhi stated, who defined exemptions as “properly crafted” to offer balanced facts to people.
“If the phase 8.1 (j) is deleted it’d weaken the regulation and could aide the ones in opposition to whom there are allegations of corruption. If this modification is made, all facts that may be associated with someone can be denied. Most facts pertains to someone and therefore the regulation could end up a Right to Deny for public facts officers (PIO) who do now no longer desire to provide facts,” he stated. The proposed facts safety regulation additionally offers for deletion of phase 43A of the Information Technology Act handling repayment to defend facts as this region could be blanketed beneathneath the brand new proposed regulation.
