Data protection and privacy in the data-driven public welfare in India

The study maps the data regulatory landscape in India against the backdrop of an increasingly data-driven public welfare sector and the growing incidence of data risks. It examines how governments at different levels draw a balance between improving welfare delivery processes by harnessing data and protecting citizen rights from probable risks inhered in the processes. Identifying data-driven welfare initiatives, namely Samagra (Madhya Pradesh), Bhamashah Yojana (Rajasthan), Samagra Vedika (Telangana) and family information data repository (Haryana), the study conducts a policy analysis to assess the data protection standards in place in India. Global privacy standards like GDPR, OECD Privacy Guidelines, etc., are used for a comparative evaluation. Findings reveal a significant trade-off between efficient data-driven governance and the protection of rights, emphasising the need for robust regulations. The study calls for a balanced approach to data privacy and the public good, urging critical discourse on privacy rights within legitimate/public data drives.