India Pushes EU for Green Light on Privacy

India has again urged the European Union to recognise it as a 'data secure' country, improving the prospects for its outsourcing industry, and says such recognition is key to the success of bilateral trade.

Shri Anand Sharma, Union Minister for Commerce, Industry & Textiles in India, told the European Commissioner for Taxation and Customs Union this month of India's strong desire to boost bilateral trade with the EU, but said that in order for the current Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement (BTIA) between the two blocs to be successful, restrictions on data flow to India must be lifted.

The EU's Data Protection Directive bans members from transferring personal data to a non-EU country unless that country has been classified as having adequate laws protecting privacy. India is currently classified as non-secure, meaning that sensitive data such as patient information, engineering design and intellectual property rights cannot be transferred there.

Shri Sharma noted India's strength in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), of which $46m has flowed in since last year - up 35%. He noted that India's existing law does not meet the required EU standards, but also that 'almost all the major Fortune 500 companies' had already trusted India with their critical data, urging the Union to pass it fit in a review currently in process.

The Indian government has already pressed the EU for a change this year, back in April.