GROUP OF SEVEN (G7)

Recently, the Group of Seven (G7)wealthy nations agreed on a joint set of principles to govern cross-border data use and digital trade.
The deal is a first step in reducing trade barriers, and could lead to a common rulebook of digital trade
Earlier, India attended the 47th G7 Summit as a guest country.

Important points:

Digital and telecommunications markets should be competitive, transparent, fair, and accessible to international trade and investment.
To harness the opportunities of the digital economy and support the trade of goods and services, data should be able to flow freely across borders with trust, including the trust of individuals and businesses.
Labour protections must be in place for workers who are directly engaged in or support digital trade, providing decent conditions of work.
To cut red tape and enable more businesses to trade, governments and industry should drive forward the digitisation of trade-related documents.
Common rules for digital trade should be agreed and upheld at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
These rules should benefit workers, consumers, and businesses in developing economies, as well as those in developed economies, while safeguarding each country’s right to regulate for legitimate public policy objectives.

Significance:

The deal sets out a middle ground between highly regulated data protection regimes used in European countries and the more open approach of the United States.
The deal envisages removing unjustified obstacles to cross-border data flows, while continuing to address privacy, data protection, the protection of intellectual property rights, and security.
The agreement reached by the elite global group is considered to be significant as it could liberalise hundreds of billions of dollars of digital trade.
Enabling cross border data flows and clarifying the framework for processing and storing data will be required to further expand the contribution of digital exports.

Indian Scenario:

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) barred three foreign card payment network firms from taking new customers on board over the issue of storing data in India.
India is contemplating an umbrella legislation on data protection, the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019.
As per the bill, the Central Government shall notify categories of personal data as critical personal data that shall only be processed in a server or data centre located in India.
The Justice BN Srikrishna committee has recommended setting up of a data protection authority and placing restrictions on cross-border data flows.
India is also opposed to joining any global deal on e-commerce with the Prime Minister refusing to sign the Osaka Track, an overarching framework promoting cross-border data flow, at the recently held G-20 summit

Way Forward

Good regulatory frameworks are essential to address issues such as privacy and cybersecurity.
SOURCE: THE HINDU,THE ECONOMIC TIMES,MINT

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