While sophisticated technologies already exist to protect and share confidential information, data can be created as a public good within the legal framework of data privacy
The government holds a rich repository of data about citizens, which is scattered, but merging the distinct datasets would generate multiple benefits with limitless applications, the Economic Survey for 2018-19 said.
The data relates to administrative, survey, institutional and transactions' data of citizens which is spread across numerous government bodies.
"Given technological advances in gathering and storage of data, society's optimal consumption of data is higher than ever. As private sector may not invest in harnessing data where it is profitable, the government must intervene is creating data as a public good, especially of the poor and in social sectors of the country, the Survey said.
While sophisticated technologies already exist to protect and share confidential information, data can be created as a public good within the legal framework of data privacy.
In thinking about data as a public good, care must also be taken to not impose the elite's preference of privacy on the poor, who care for a better quality of living the most and data of societal interest is generated by the people, it should be "of the people, by the people, for the people."
"The prospect of empowering the government with such comprehensive, exhaustive information about every citizen may sound alarming at first. However, this is far from the truth. First, large quantities of data already exist in government records, and the objective is only to use this data in a more efficient way," it said.
The data or information highway, which is being generated at an unprecedented scale, must be viewed as equally important infrastructure as the physical highways.
"Such a stance can help India leapfrog to utilise the benefits of technological advances for the welfare of its people," it said.
The Survey also spoke about an idea of a 'National Health Registry' that maintains health records of citizens with all the necessary privacy safeguards. Such a national health register can be identified using a citizen's Aadhaar. The anonymised data from the register can be sold to private parties for analytics, which would then enhance prevention by offering predictive and prescriptive knowledge.
Various scenarios have been mentioned in the Survey where harnessing data could lead to notable improvements in public welfare. Data with government bodies can enable the decision-makers to improve the living standards of the people.
"While the private sector has done an impressive job of harnessing some kinds of data, the kind that can be converted into a private profit, the government intervention is required in other areas where private investment in data remains inadequate," the Survey said. The private sector has the potential to reap massive dividends from data, it is only fair to charge them for its use.
The Ministry of Electronics and IT is framing India's first data protection law.
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