London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Feb 06, 2026

Indian, US businesses plan to lobby against India's privacy bill

Indian, US businesses plan to lobby against India's privacy bill

India's proposed privacy bill will require firms like Google and Facebook to change their treatment of users' data.
Trade groups representing some of the world's biggest firms plan to lobby United States officials and Indian legislators in a bid to dilute parts of an Indian privacy bill which could hurt businesses, three sources familiar with the plans told Reuters News Agency.

The Personal Data Protection Bill, which India's government argues is necessary to protect user privacy, will require companies such as Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook to change how they store and process Indian users' data.

Industry executives say some provisions will raise costs and compliance requirements. One provision empowers the government to ask a company to provide anonymised user data to help formulate policies, something data companies are loathed to share as it is crucial to driving business growth.

Submitted by the government last week, the bill will be reviewed by a 30-member parliamentary panel.

The US-India Business Council (USIBC), part of the US Chamber of Commerce, plans to lobby Indian parliamentarians who will review the bill and will hold meetings with key US government officials, said one source.

The council may also lead a delegation to India early next year to meet the parliamentary panel, the source added.

The sources declined to comment as the lobbying plans have not been made public.

The plans signal that India's privacy bill could deepen bilateral strains. Washington has been upset with new stringent data storage rules that affect credit card companies and has also protested against e-commerce rules which have hurt firms such as Amazon.com Inc.

Meenakshi Lekhi, the head of the parliamentary panel and a legislator from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told Reuters the committee will try to have "the widest possible consultations".

She added, however, that she will seek legal advice on "the participation" of a foreign lobby group during the panel's deliberations.

USIBC said in a statement it was assessing the bill and will engage with the government and other stakeholders "to ensure that industry perspectives on the bill are incorporated".

Another influential lobby group, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, has told its members it plans to work with other industry bodies and speak to US officials as it looks to address industry concerns on the privacy bill, a second source said.

The group said in a statement it was still assessing the bill.

India is the latest country to seek tighter control over data and domestic operations of global tech firms. Vietnam has passed a law for technology firms to store "important" personal data on users in the country. Australia last year passed a bill that gave police access to encrypted data.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Winklevoss-Led Gemini to Slash a Quarter of Jobs and Exit European and Australian Markets
Investigation Launched at Winter Olympics Over Ski Jumpers Injecting Hyaluronic Acid
U.S. State Department Issues Urgent Travel Warning for Citizens to Leave Iran Immediately
Wall Street Erases All Gains of 2026; Bitcoin Plummets 14% to $63,000
Epstein Case Documents Reignite Global Scrutiny of Political and Business Elites
Eighty-one-year-old man in the United States fatally shoots Uber driver after scam threat
UK Royal Family Faces Intensifying Strain as Epstein-Linked Revelations Rock the Institution
Political Censorship: French Prosecutors Raid Musk’s X Offices in Paris
AI Invented “Hot Springs” — Tourists Arrived and Were Shocked
Tech Mega-Donors Power Trump-Aligned Fundraising Surge to $429 Million Ahead of 2026 Midterms
UK Pharma Watchdog Rules Sanofi Breached Industry Code With RSV Vaccine Claims Against Pfizer
Melania Documentary Opens Modestly in UK with Mixed Global Box Office Performance
Starmer Arrives in Shanghai to Promote British Trade and Investment
Harry Styles, Anthony Joshua and Premier League Stars Among UK’s Top Taxpayers
New Epstein Files Include Images of Former Prince Andrew Kneeling Over Unidentified Woman
Starmer Urges Former Prince Andrew to Testify Before US Congress About Epstein Ties
Starmer Extends Invitation to Japan’s Prime Minister After Strategic Tokyo Talks
Skupski and Harrison Clinch Australian Open Men’s Doubles Title in Melbourne
DOJ Unveils Millions of Epstein Files, Fueling Global Scrutiny of Elite Networks
France Begins Phasing Out Zoom and Microsoft Teams to Advance Digital Sovereignty
China Lifts Sanctions on British MPs and Peers After Starmer Xi Talks in Beijing
Trump Nominates Kevin Warsh as Fed Chair to Reorient U.S. Monetary Policy Toward Pro-Growth Interest Rates
AstraZeneca Announces £11bn China Investment After Scaling Back UK Expansion Plans
Starmer and Xi Forge Warming UK-China Ties in Beijing Amid Strategic Reset
Tech Market Shifts and AI Investment Surge Drive Global Innovation and Layoffs
Markets Jolt as AI Spending, US Policy Shifts, and Global Security Moves Drive New Volatility
U.S. Signals Potential Decertification of Canadian Aircraft as Bilateral Tensions Escalate
Former South Korean First Lady Kim Keon Hee Sentenced to 20 Months for Bribery
Tesla Ends Model S and X Production and Sends $2 Billion to xAI as 2025 Revenue Declines
China Executes 11 Members of the Ming Clan in Cross-Border Scam Case Linked to Myanmar’s Lawkai
Trump Administration Officials Held Talks With Group Advocating Alberta’s Independence
Starmer Signals UK Push for a More ‘Sophisticated’ Relationship With China in Talks With Xi
Shopping Chatbots Move From Advice to Checkout as Walmart Pushes Faster Than Amazon
Starmer Seeks Economic Gains From China Visit While Navigating US Diplomatic Sensitivities
Starmer Says China Visit Will Deliver Economic Benefits as He Prepares to Meet Xi Jinping
UK Prime Minister Starmer Arrives in China to Bolster Trade and Warn Firms of Strategic Opportunities
The AI Hiring Doom Loop — Algorithmic Recruiting Filters Out Top Talent and Rewards Average or Fake Candidates
Amazon to Cut 16,000 Corporate Jobs After Earlier 14,000 Reduction, Citing Streamlining and AI Investment
Federal Reserve Holds Interest Rate at 3.75% as Powell Faces DOJ Criminal Investigation During 2026 Decision
Putin’s Four-Year Ukraine Invasion Cost: Russia’s Mass Casualty Attrition and the Donbas Security-Guarantee Tradeoff
Wall Street Bets on Strong US Growth and Currency Moves as Dollar Slips After Trump Comments
UK Prime Minister Traveled to China Using Temporary Phones and Laptops to Limit Espionage Risks
Google’s $68 Million Voice Assistant Settlement Exposes Incentives That Reward Over-Collection
Kim Kardashian Admits Faking Paparazzi Visit to Britney Spears for Fame in Early 2000s
UPS to Cut 30,000 More Jobs by 2026 Amid Shift to High-Margin Deliveries
France Plans to Replace Teams and Zoom Across Government With Homegrown Visio by 2027
Trump Removes Minneapolis Deportation Operation Commander After Fatal Shooting of Protester
Iran’s Elite Wealth Abroad and Sanctions Leakage: How Offshore Luxury Sustains Regime Resilience
U.S. Central Command Announces Regional Air Exercise as Iran Unveils Drone Carrier Footage
Four Arrested in Andhra Pradesh Over Alleged HIV-Contaminated Injection Attack on Doctor
×