Data Piracy and Enforcement Mechanisms in India
Gunjan Arora, Faculty of Law, Jai Narain Vyas University
ABSTRACT
Data Piracy is a serious, evolving threat to the Indian Economy. In today’s digital world, piracy takes place in both online and offline forms. The discussion about data piracy and its enforcement in India shows the clash between personal rights and digital evolution. This research aims to explore the current legal framework in India on data piracy. It will analyse, explain, and compare the existing laws, including the Digital Data Protection Act, 2023, and the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation.
The paper will first examine the current legal protections against data piracy in India, including the Information Technology Act, 2000, its amendments, the SPDI Rules, 2011, and the Digital Data Protection Act, 2023. Then, it will look at the Constitutional basis for data protection through landmark judgments such as Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015) and Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017). After that, it will critically evaluate and compare the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, with international standards like the GDPR. Finally, the study will offer recommendations to improve the current laws on data piracy in India by addressing existing gaps.