8 PARLIAMENTARIAN l JULY 2019
QuesTioN Hour
PRIVATE INFORMATION SALES
QUERY FROM rAKeSh SinGh
has the selling of private information
of users by social networking sites
has come to notice of the
Government?
has the government made any rule to
prevent the misuse of sharing of
private information of users without
their consent?
REPLY FROM
rAvi ShAnKAr PrASAd,
MINISTER FOR ELECTRONICS
AND INFORMATION
TECHNOLOGY
No such instance/ report has come to
the notice of the Government. Th ere
had been media reports about leakage
of personal data. Th e government took
notice of reports about leakage of data
by Facebook and Cambridge
Analytica, and in response to notices
sent to them, these companies have
claimed that there had been no misuse.
However, since the reply given by
Cambridge Analytica was not
adequately convincing, the CBI has
been asked to investigate this matter
with regard to possible misuse by
Cambridge Analytica.
Section 43A and section 72A of the
Information Technology Act, 2000
provides for privacy and security of
data in digital form. Section 43A
provides for compensation to be paid
to the victim in case of unauthorized
access of information and leakage of
sensitive personal information
respectively. It mandates ‘body
corporates’ to implement ‘reasonable
security practices’ for protecting
‘sensitive personal information’ of
individuals. Section 72A of the Act
provides for punishment for disclosure
of information in breach of the lawfulcontract. Further, Information
Technology (Intermediary Guidelines)
Rules 2011 notifi ed under Section 79 of
the IT Act, 2000 require that the
Intermediaries shall observe due
diligence while discharging their
duties and shall publish the rules and
regulations, privacy policy and user
agreement for access or usage of its
computer resource by any person.
To further strengthen personal data
protection of user, the Government
had set up a Committee of Experts
under the Chairmanship of Justice
(Retd.) Shri B N Srikrishna to prepare
a data protection framework and work
out the Data Protection Bill. Th e
Srikrishna Committee deliberated on
various issues and brought out a White
Paper on Data Protection that laid
down the principles. Th ereaft er, the
Committee submitted its report along
with draft Bill to MeitY. Th e report
and the draft Bill were placed in the
public domain and comments were
sought, feedback has been received.
Steps are afoot to bring about data
protection legislation.
ONGC AND PRIVATE SECTOR
QUERY FROM bhubAneSWAr
K AlitA
is it a fact that last year directorate
General of hydrocarbons (dGh) had
identifi ed some oil producing fi elds
of Public Sector oil companies like
onGC and oil and decided to hand
over the fi elds to private operators?
Also, whether it is also a fact that the
onGC had strongly countered the
proposal with its own proposal on the
same terms and conditions of
Government; and if so, o, whether
Government had given any green
signal to onGC and if not, the
reasons therefor?REPLY FROM
dhArmendrA PrAdhAn,
MINISTER OF PETROLEUM AND
NATUR AL GAS
Directorate General of Hydrocarbons
(DGH) studied and evaluated various
options for enhancement of domestic
production of oil and natural gas in
consultation with various stakeholders
including ONGC and OIL. Th e options
included another round of Discovered
Small Field bid, Technical Service
Contract Model, and Farming-in
Model. Meanwhile, ONGC and OIL
initiated actions to implement
Production Enhancement Contracts
through induction of private
participation.
SOLAR ON UNUSED LAND
QUERY FROM dr. Amee YAJniK
has the Government any proposal to
utilize its unused land pool for
installation of solar power projects?
What are the details about the time-
frame for the completion of the
project?
REPLY FROM PiYuSh GoYAl
MINISTER OF RAILWAYS
Ministry of Railways is planning for
installation of solar panels on
unutilised Railway land for meeting its
energy needs for both traction and
non-traction purposes. Th e Nodal
Agency for execution of this project is
yet to be decided. Nodal Directorate
under Ministry of Railways is
Electrical Energy Management
Directorate. So far, Indian Railways
has already set up 77.99 Mega Watt
(MW) of Solar Power Plants (74.
MW on rooft ops and 3 MW on land)
and planning/execution is further
under progress for 176.46 MW of
rooft op capacity and 54 MW of land
based solar power plants.
SHALE EXPLORATION
QUERY FROM SA nJAY SinGh
is it a fact that Government is
considering changes in the defi nition
of petroleum to let oil and gas
exploration fi rms explore shale
reserves in the country? if so, what
methods of the extraction are going
to be allowed and which companies,
whether public or private would be
eligible to undertake exploration;