DPDP for the CIO / IT head in IT and ITeS

Through named accounts, from managed devices or controlled jump servers, with multi-factor sign-in and logging. Access should be removed the day someone rolls off. Client data should stay in client systems and not be copied to laptops, internal tickets or chat.

Section 8(5) and Rule 6 apply to your safeguards even where you are the processor. Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Section 8(1)–(2)

1. No shared client credentials.
2. MFA on all client access.
3. Jump servers or VDI for sensitive clients.
4. Roll-off removal the same day.
5. Quarterly access review per client.

• Access lists per client
• Review records
• Roll-off removal reports

• Shared logins in team chat
• Copying production data to laptops
• Access left after roll-off

• Who should be able to see personal data in our systems?
• Which logs must we keep, for how long, and where?
• Something has gone wrong. What happens in the first 72 hours?

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

• Are we a Data Fiduciary or a Data Processor?
• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?
• Does ISO 27001 or NIST CSF cover our DPDP duties?

Usually in more places than anyone expects: core systems, email, shared drives, laptops, vendor systems, backups, test copies, spreadsheets and paper. A simple inventory, one row per system, is the base for every other duty.

Separate internal systems from client delivery platforms.

Every duty in Sections 5 to 12 assumes you know where the data is. Rule 6 needs safeguards for each system, and Section 11 needs you to find the data when someone asks. Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Sections 11–14 · Rule 14 · Section 8(7) · Rule 8

1. List systems, then shared drives, email, spreadsheets and paper stores.
2. For each one, note whose data, which items, purpose, owner, hosting location and vendors.
3. Add copies: backups, test, analytics.
4. Get each owner to confirm their rows.
5. Update it whenever a system is bought or retired.

• Data inventory
• Owner confirmations
• Change log

• A 200-column spreadsheet nobody finishes
• Leaving out SaaS tools bought by departments
• No owner for each row

• How long can we keep personal data?
• Can personal data be stored or accessed outside India?
• Someone asks what data we hold about them. What do we send?

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'

• 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.

Client backups held by managed service teams must follow client retention.

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?

Only people who need it for their job, and only the part they need. Use named accounts, give access by role, review it every quarter and remove it on the day someone leaves. Watch privileged accounts closely.

Your own HRMS and payroll, as well as client systems.

Rule 6 names access control as a minimum safeguard, along with logs and monitoring that can detect misuse. Section 8(5) · Rule 6

1. Write a role matrix for each key system.
2. Replace shared logins with named accounts.
3. Use multi-factor sign-in for admin and remote access.
4. Review access every quarter with each manager.
5. Remove access on the last working day.

• Role matrix
• Quarterly review sign-offs
• Leaver removal report

• Generic logins on shared machines
• Access that only grows
• No review of vendor accounts

• Which logs must we keep, for how long, and where?
• Something has gone wrong. What happens in the first 72 hours?
• What must a vendor contract say about personal data?

Keep logs that show who accessed personal data and what they did, for at least one year under the DPDP Rules. CERT-In separately asks for ICT system logs to be kept for 180 days within India. Logs must be protected so nobody can quietly change them.

Keep logs of access to client systems, as well as your own systems.

Rule 6 lists logs and monitoring as a minimum safeguard. Rule 8(3) asks for logs to be kept for at least one year. The CERT-In Directions of 2022 ask for 180 days of ICT logs kept within India. Section 8(5) · Rule 6 · Section 8(7) · Rule 8

1. List systems holding personal data and what each logs today.
2. Turn on access logging where it is missing.
3. Send logs to one protected store, with at least one year of retention.
4. Keep a copy of ICT logs in India for at least 180 days.
5. Sync clocks and review alerts every day.

• Log source list
• Retention settings
• Alert review records

• Logging only failures, not who viewed a record
• Logs stored on the same server they describe
• Clocks out of sync, so timelines cannot be built

• Something has gone wrong. What happens in the first 72 hours?
• Who should be able to see personal data in our systems?
• Where does personal data live in our organisation?

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

• 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?

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.

ISO/IEC 27001 is common in the sector; ISO/IEC 27701 adds privacy controls clients ask for.

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?