Indian laws complicate outsourcing

data protection laws intended to ease concerns over offshoring to India merely adds complexity for outsourcers, reports the CIO.

Over the years, the offshore outsourcing industry has grown used to dealing with issues raised under the UK, EU or US data protection laws, and CIOs and experienced outsourcing and privacy practitioners have developed effective solutions to most of the problems presented.

India has issued a new data protection law which will trap unwary offshore outsourcing projects. And two other key offshore outsourcing destinations - China and the Philippines - are both progressing their own sets of laws on data privacy.

According to the Washington Post, the rules in India's Information Technology Act govern the collection and use of personal information including banking and medical details.

However, Google has protested some sections of the rules, which make Internet intermediaries responsible for any objectionable content, which is defined as “harassing,” “grossly harmful” or “ethnically objectionable.”

India's deputy minister for IT, Sachin Pilot, says the law addresses a long-pending demand of the IT industry for a legal framework for data protection. “We are aligning ourselves with the global best practices”, states the Boston Globe.