DPDP for the Procurement department in Healthcare

Imaging and lab devices store names, ages and results, often on old operating systems. Put them on a separate network, control vendor remote access, change default passwords, and wipe disks before a device is returned or scrapped.

Rule 6 safeguards apply to devices that store personal data. Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Section 8(7) · Rule 8

1. List devices that store patient data.
2. Segment them.
3. Control vendor remote access.
4. Change default passwords.
5. Wipe before disposal.

• Device list
• Network diagram
• Wipe certificates

• Devices on the general network
• Vendor modems always on
• Disks leaving with old machines

• Who should be able to see personal data in our systems?
• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?
• Does deletion have to reach backups and test copies?

You stay responsible for what your vendors do with personal data. The contract should say what data they get, for what purpose, the security they must keep, how fast they must tell you about an incident, that sub-contractors need your approval, and how data is returned or deleted at the end.

Labs, teleradiology, HIS vendors, TPAs and ambulance services.

Section 8(1) keeps responsibility with you. Section 8(2) allows a processor only under a valid contract. Rule 6 asks for security terms in that contract. Section 8(1)–(2) · Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Section 8(6) · Rule 7 · Section 8(7) · Rule 8

1. List vendors who receive or can see personal data.
2. Rank them by how much and how sensitive.
3. Add a data-protection schedule to each contract, starting with the top ten.
4. Ask for evidence: certificates, test results, deletion confirmations.
5. Review the top vendors every year.

• Vendor register
• Signed data-protection schedules
• Annual review notes

• Relying on the vendor's standard terms
• No incident-notice time
• No exit and deletion clause

• Something has gone wrong. What happens in the first 72 hours?
• Can personal data be stored or accessed outside India?
• Does deletion have to reach backups and test copies?

Under DPDP, yes, unless the government restricts a country, and none had been restricted when this page was last reviewed. A sector rule can be stricter, for example RBI's rule that payment system data must be stored only in India. Remote support access from abroad also counts as data going outside India.

Teleradiology and some software vendors use teams abroad; this is a transfer.

Section 16 allows transfers unless restricted, and keeps stricter sector laws in force. Rule 15 adds conditions on making data available to foreign states. Section 16 · Rule 15 · Section 8(1)–(2)

1. List where each system is hosted and where support teams log in from.
2. Check sector rules for localisation.
3. Put location and access terms in cloud and vendor contracts.
4. Keep the list current; new SaaS tools change it quietly.
5. Tell people in your notice if data goes abroad.

• Hosting and access-location list
• Contract clauses
• Sector rule check

• Forgetting email, CRM and helpdesk SaaS
• Ignoring overseas support logins
• Assuming 'Indian vendor' means 'data in India'

• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?
• Where does personal data live in our organisation?
• Which logs must we keep, for how long, and where?

Deletion should reach every copy you control. For backups, the usual practice is to let deleted records expire with the normal backup cycle, never restore them into live use, and write this down. Test and training copies should use masked data.

Offline backups decide whether care continues during ransomware.

Section 8(7) asks for erasure. Rule 6 asks for backups for continuity. The two meet in a backup retention rule that is short enough and written down. Section 8(7) · Rule 8 · Section 8(5) · Rule 6

1. List where copies live: backups, replicas, test, analytics, laptops, vendors.
2. Set backup retention to match the retention schedule.
3. Write a rule: deleted records are not restored into live systems.
4. Mask personal data in test and training copies.
5. Get deletion confirmations from vendors.

• Backup retention settings
• Written backup-expiry rule
• Masking procedure for test data

• Ten-year backups for convenience
• Live copies in test
• Restoring old backups and bringing deleted records back

• Someone asks us to delete their data. Must we?
• How long can we keep personal data?
• Where does personal data live in our organisation?

Contain it, then tell people. A reportable cyber incident goes to CERT-In within six hours of being noticed. Under DPDP, each affected person and the Data Protection Board must be told without delay, and the Board needs a detailed report within 72 hours. Sector regulators may have their own clock too.

A ransomware attack on the HIS needs a CERT-In report in six hours and the DPDP messages.

Section 8(6) and Rule 7 set the DPDP steps. The CERT-In Directions of 28 April 2022 set the six-hour report. A breach includes accidental disclosure and loss of access, not only hacking. Section 8(6) · Rule 7 · Section 8(5) · Rule 6

1. Name one incident lead and a back-up, with phone numbers that work at night.
2. Write the first-hour steps: isolate, preserve logs, tell the DPO and the incident lead.
3. Keep ready-made drafts for CERT-In, the regulator, the Board and affected people.
4. Decide in advance who signs off each message.
5. Rehearse once a year with the people who would actually be called.

• Incident plan with clocks
• Rehearsal record
• Incident log with times of each step

• Waiting to finish the investigation before telling anyone
• Treating a wrong email or a lost laptop as 'not a breach'
• Only IT knowing the plan

• Which logs must we keep, for how long, and where?
• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?
• Does deletion have to reach backups and test copies?

They help a great deal with the security part. ISO/IEC 27001 and NIST CSF 2.0 are good evidence of reasonable security safeguards. They do not cover notice, consent, rights, complaints or children's data. ISO/IEC 27701 adds privacy controls, but no certificate replaces the Act.

NABH information management standards and ISO 27001 support Rule 6.

Section 8(5) and Rule 6 ask for reasonable security safeguards. A recognised standard is strong evidence of that duty, and only of that duty. Section 8(5) · Rule 6

1. Map your current controls to Rule 6.
2. Add the DPDP-only items: notice, consent, rights, complaints, children, retention.
3. Use the same evidence for audits and for DPDP.
4. Include privacy in the scope of your next internal audit.
5. Consider ISO/IEC 27701 if clients ask for it.

• Control map
• Audit reports
• Gap list for DPDP-only items

• Treating a certificate as DPDP compliance
• Scope that leaves out the systems with the most personal data
• No owner for the non-security duties

• Which logs must we keep, for how long, and where?
• Who should be able to see personal data in our systems?
• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?

You are a Data Fiduciary when you decide why and how personal data is used, as you do for your own staff and customers. You are a Data Processor when you handle data only on another organisation's instructions. Many organisations are both, for different data sets.

Partner labs and teleradiology providers usually act for you.

Section 2(i) and 2(k) define the two roles. Section 8(1) puts the duties on the Data Fiduciary, which must use processors only under a valid contract. Section 8(1)–(2) · Section 17(1)(d)

1. List each data set you handle.
2. For each, ask: who decides the purpose?
3. Mark yourself as fiduciary or processor, and name the other party.
4. Check that contracts match the role.
5. Route requests about processor data to the fiduciary.

• Role register by data set
• Contracts matching the role

• Calling yourself a processor for data you use for your own purposes
• No contract when you act as processor
• Answering requests that belong to your client

• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?
• Someone asks what data we hold about them. What do we send?
• Can personal data be stored or accessed outside India?