DPDP for the CFO / Finance head in IT and ITeS

Mostly not. Section 17(1)(d) exempts processing of personal data of people outside India when you do it under a contract with a party outside India. Security safeguards and responsibility for your processors still apply. The exemption does not cover your Indian staff, Indian customers, or Indian data mixed into the same work.

Section 17(1)(d) sets the exemption. Section 8(5) and 8(1) still apply. Section 17(1)(d) · Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Section 8(1)–(2)

1. Tag each project by where the people live.
2. Find mixed projects with Indian data.
3. Keep security controls the same for all.
4. Record which contracts rely on the exemption.
5. Review when projects change.

• Project tagging
• Contract list

• Assuming all client work is exempt
• Lower security for exempt data
• Missing Indian data in global data sets

Tell the client first, within the time your contract sets, because the client is the fiduciary and must tell its own customers and the Board. Report to CERT-In within six hours if the incident is reportable. Give the client logs and facts quickly; do not contact the client's customers yourself unless the client asks.

Section 8(6) puts the duty to tell people on the fiduciary. As processor, your contract decides your duty to the client. Section 8(6) · Rule 7 · Section 8(1)–(2)

1. Keep a list of client notice times.
2. Name who calls each client.
3. Prepare a client incident template.
4. File CERT-In if reportable.
5. Share logs and a written account.

• Client notice list
• Incident timeline
• CERT-In record

• Waiting to finish the investigation before telling the client
• Contacting the client's customers directly
• Missing the CERT-In clock

For most organisations it is a programme of six to nine months, not a single project. The heavy parts are the data inventory, vendor contracts, access control and the request process. Notices, the contact person and training are lighter. Starting now leaves time to fix what you find.

Staff data work is quick; client contract alignment takes longer.

Most duties under the DPDP Rules start on 13 May 2027. Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Section 8(1)–(2) · Sections 11–14 · Rule 14

1. Month 1: name the owner, set a budget line, start the inventory.
2. Months 2 to 3: notices, consent records, contact person, request register.
3. Months 3 to 6: vendor contracts, access control, logs, retention schedule.
4. Months 6 to 8: breach rehearsal, training, internal review.
5. Month 9: management review with evidence.

• Programme plan with owners
• Monthly status with evidence
• Management minutes

• Leaving it to the last quarter
• Buying a tool before knowing the gaps
• Status colours with no evidence behind them

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.

Sub-contractors working on client data need the same terms you signed with the client.

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

Before accepting a readiness statement, management should see evidence for each duty: dated notices, consent records, a request register with replies, signed vendor terms, access review sign-offs, log settings, a breach drill report and a deletion log. A status colour without these is a statement, not evidence.

The Act places duties on the Data Fiduciary as an organisation. Management is accountable for whether they are actually met. Section 8(1)–(2) · Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Section 8(6) · Rule 7 · Section 8(9)–(10) · Rules 9, 14

1. List the duties that apply.
2. For each, name the piece of evidence that would satisfy an auditor.
3. Ask owners to attach it.
4. Mark duties without evidence as open, not ready.
5. Review the list before each management sign-off.

• Duty-to-evidence list
• Attached evidence
• Sign-off record

• Accepting 'done' without seeing anything
• Counting policies as evidence
• One sign-off and no review after

Keep data for as long as its purpose needs, or as long as a law requires, and then erase it. Every organisation must keep personal data and logs for at least one year under Rule 8(3). Write a retention schedule by record type, with the law or reason against each period.

Candidates, employees, alumni, and client data at project end.

Section 8(7) asks for erasure when the purpose is over, unless a law requires retention. Rule 8(3) sets a one-year minimum for personal data, traffic data and logs. Section 8(7) · Rule 8 · Section 8(5) · Rule 6

1. List the record types you hold.
2. Write the period for each, with the law, regulator rule or business reason.
3. Set a trigger for the period to start: end of relationship, date of transaction, exit date.
4. Automate deletion where you can; for paper, schedule shredding.
5. Keep a deletion log.

• Retention schedule approved by Legal
• Deletion log
• Shredding or disposal certificates

• 'Keep everything forever' because storage is cheap
• Deleting before the legal minimum
• Forgetting email, shared drives and backups

Only the government can notify an organisation or a class of organisations as a Significant Data Fiduciary, based on the volume and sensitivity of data and the risk to people or the State. None had been notified when this page was last reviewed. Large holders of sensitive data should plan as if it could happen.

Notification is more likely for consumer platforms than for IT services, but large SaaS players should watch.

Section 10 and Rule 13 set the extra duties: a DPO in India, an independent data auditor, a yearly Data Protection Impact Assessment and audit, and checks on algorithms. Rule 13(4) allows the government to restrict some data from leaving India. Section 10 · Rule 13 · Section 16 · Rule 15

1. Estimate how many people's data you hold and how sensitive it is.
2. Note any public or security role your data plays.
3. If you are a likely candidate, run a trial impact assessment this year.
4. Identify an auditor you could appoint.
5. Watch MeitY notifications.

• Volume and sensitivity note
• Trial impact assessment
• Board note

• Assuming 'not notified' means 'never'
• Waiting for notification to start
• Thinking only tech companies will be notified

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.

Global HR and collaboration tools are often hosted abroad. Clients may restrict where their data goes.

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'

Usually not for normal employment purposes. Section 7(i) lets you process employee data for employment, such as payroll, attendance, safety and preventing corporate espionage. Anything beyond that, such as wellness apps, photos for marketing or sharing with a bank for offers, needs consent.

Large hiring volumes mean large records. Set retention by record type.

Section 7(i) covers employment purposes and safeguarding the employer from loss or liability. Notice, security, retention and rights still apply to employees. Section 7 · Section 5 · Rule 3 · Section 8(7) · Rule 8 · Sections 11–14 · Rule 14

1. List what you collect from staff and why.
2. Mark which items are employment purposes and which are extra.
3. Take consent for the extras, separately.
4. Give staff a short employee privacy notice.
5. Set retention for ex-employee records.

• Employee data list with basis
• Employee privacy notice
• Consent for extras

• A blanket consent clause in the offer letter
• Keeping candidate data forever
• Sharing staff data with vendors without terms

Only a Significant Data Fiduciary must appoint a DPO, based in India. Every other organisation must publish the contact of a person who can answer questions about personal data. In practice, most organisations of any size name one accountable person anyway, because someone has to own requests, complaints and breaches.

Large IT firms with big staff and candidate data are not automatically SDFs, but clients expect a named DPO.

Section 8(9) and Rule 9 require a published contact person for every Data Fiduciary. Section 10 requires a DPO in India for Significant Data Fiduciaries. Section 8(9)–(10) · Rules 9, 14 · Section 10 · Rule 13

1. Name one accountable person, with a deputy.
2. Publish the contact on your website, app and notices.
3. Give the role time, a budget line and a route to management.
4. Set a short monthly report: requests, complaints, incidents, actions.
5. Review the role if you are notified as an SDF.

• Appointment letter
• Published contact
• Monthly report

• Giving the job to IT as a side task
• A contact email nobody reads
• No authority to make changes