Restricting cross-border data flow will hurt digital trade: AIMA report

Curbs on cross-border data flow can severely restrict growth in India’s digital trade, according to a report by the All India Management Association and Hong Kong-based Hinrich Foundation — a trade research body.

The Draft Personal Data Protection Bill, expected to be tabled in Parliament soon, has proposed the data of all Indian users be stored within the country. To this end, the government had mandated strict guidelines for mandatory server localisation, arguing that the data stored on foreign servers may be compromised. 

This had prompted swift opposition from Google, Amazon, and Facebook. The digital giants claim the