Data protection law must control misuse of data, say founders of ecommerce companies

The data protection law must control the misuse of personal data of users, said founders of ecommerce companies.

Speaking at a panel discussion at TechSparks Delhi, Radhika Ghai, Founder and CEO of kindlife, an online marketplace for new-age beauty and wellness products, said multiple aspects of the data protection legislation are still not set in stone and misuse of data must be controlled.

"I think that is something the data bill acts on very quickly. The punishment per se is very stringent,” said Ghai. “It is important for data to be protected."

“Collaboration of data and cross pollination of data is the next level of discussion and that is not set yet," she said, adding that the data protection law needs to work on this.

Targeted ads create value for users, said Anshoo Sharma, Cofounder and CEO of Magicpin, a discovery and discount platform.

"There is immense value in using data to cross-sell products to users, and the regulator understands this," said Sharma.

“If you are someone who buys an Ed Hardy T-shirt, then you would be someone who likes to go to Cafe Delhi Heights. So much of such data is unmined. The more such data becomes available, it is a win-win for all sorts of brands and retailers that exist," he said.

Anamika Pandey, Founder of food brand Naario, said that consumers are becoming more aware of the importance of privacy and protecting personal data.

“For me as a person who runs a digital native business, there is always a dilemma … There is a question about how much can you innovate with data versus how much data do we need,” she said.

“The whole consent system was not there. Recently people have become aware. People are now thinking now I can opt out of giving my data. Before we used to accept all cookies and give all of our data.”

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill 2023 was passed by the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha earlier this year and received President Murmu's nod. The legislation proposes a penalty of Rs 250 crore if companies fail to protect the data of users or if there is any misuse of data.