You are a Data Fiduciary for your own staff and candidates, and usually a Data Processor for the client data your teams work on. Data of people outside India, handled under a contract with a foreign client, is mostly outside the Act, but security and responsibility for sub-contractors still apply.
The first four things to sort out
Data schedule in every purchase.
Hosting location check.
Incident notice hours.
Exit and deletion.
A worked example: A new screen recording tool for QA
Week 1Procurement asks where recordings are stored.
Week 2Data terms added.
Week 3Retention set.
AfterSigned.
Evidence kept: Contract.
QA tools store a lot of data.
What others in the sector usually do. Procurement checks client approval before using a sub-contractor.
Short answer: Named, logged and removed at roll-off
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.
Short answer: Yes, every vendor that touches personal data
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.
From your seat: Procurement department. Add the data-protection schedule to every purchase that involves personal data, and do not sign without it.
In IT and ITeS
Sub-contractors working on client data need the same terms you signed with the client.
Short answer: Yes, unless a sector rule says otherwise
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.
From your seat: Procurement department. Ask every vendor where data is hosted and where support staff sit.
In IT and ITeS
Global HR and collaboration tools are often hosted abroad. Clients may restrict where their data goes.
What the law says
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)
Steps
List where each system is hosted and where support teams log in from.
Check sector rules for localisation.
Put location and access terms in cloud and vendor contracts.
Keep the list current; new SaaS tools change it quietly.
Short answer: Yes, through a written backup-expiry rule
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.
From your seat: Procurement department. Add an exit clause: data returned or deleted, with a certificate.
In IT and ITeS
Client backups held by managed service teams must follow client retention.
What the law says
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
Steps
List where copies live: backups, replicas, test, analytics, laptops, vendors.
Set backup retention to match the retention schedule.
Write a rule: deleted records are not restored into live systems.
Mask personal data in test and training copies.
Get deletion confirmations from vendors.
Evidence to keep
Backup retention settings
Written backup-expiry rule
Masking procedure for test data
Common mistakes
Ten-year backups for convenience
Live copies in test
Restoring old backups and bringing deleted records back
Short answer: Six hours for CERT-In; without delay for people and the Board; 72 hours for the detailed report
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.
From your seat: Procurement department. Vendor contracts need a short incident-notice time, in hours.
In IT and ITeS
If client data is involved, the client contract sets your first deadline, often a few hours.
What the law says
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
Steps
Name one incident lead and a back-up, with phone numbers that work at night.
Write the first-hour steps: isolate, preserve logs, tell the DPO and the incident lead.
Keep ready-made drafts for CERT-In, the regulator, the Board and affected people.
Decide in advance who signs off each message.
Rehearse once a year with the people who would actually be called.
Evidence to keep
Incident plan with clocks
Rehearsal record
Incident log with times of each step
Common mistakes
Waiting to finish the investigation before telling anyone
Treating a wrong email or a lost laptop as 'not a breach'
Short answer: They cover security, not the whole Act
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.
From your seat: Procurement department. Ask for current certificates and the latest audit summary, not just a logo on a slide.
In IT and ITeS
ISO/IEC 27001 is common in the sector; ISO/IEC 27701 adds privacy controls clients ask for.
What the law says
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
Steps
Map your current controls to Rule 6.
Add the DPDP-only items: notice, consent, rights, complaints, children, retention.
Use the same evidence for audits and for DPDP.
Include privacy in the scope of your next internal audit.
Consider ISO/IEC 27701 if clients ask for it.
Evidence to keep
Control map
Audit reports
Gap list for DPDP-only items
Common mistakes
Treating a certificate as DPDP compliance
Scope that leaves out the systems with the most 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.
From your seat: Procurement department. Check whether the vendor will use the data for its own purposes. If yes, it is not just a processor.
In IT and ITeS
You are usually a processor for client data and a fiduciary for staff and candidates.
What the law says
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)
Steps
List each data set you handle.
For each, ask: who decides the purpose?
Mark yourself as fiduciary or processor, and name the other party.
Check that contracts match the role.
Route requests about processor data to the fiduciary.
Evidence to keep
Role register by data set
Contracts matching the role
Common mistakes
Calling yourself a processor for data you use for your own purposes
Section 8(1)–(2): Responsibility for vendors. You are usually the processor for client data and a fiduciary for your own staff. Your sub-contractors are your processors.
Section 8(5) · Rule 6: Security safeguards. Remote access to client systems, laptops and ticketing tools need control, monitoring and one-year logs.
Section 8(6) · Rule 7: Telling people about a breach. Clients' contracts often require notice within hours, because their own clock starts when you tell them.
Report specified cyber incidents within six hours. Keep ICT logs for 180 days within India. Sync clocks to NIC or NPL time servers. Data centres, VPS, cloud and VPN providers keep specified subscriber information for five years.
Breach handling must meet the six-hour CERT-In clock and the DPDP report to the Board. Subscriber records need DPDP-level protection.
