Section 3: Application of Act

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Simple Explanation

Section 3 defines the territorial and material scope of the Act: • Applies to digital personal data processed within India. • Also applies to processing outside India if it is connected with offering goods or services to people in India (extraterritorial applicability). • Does NOT apply to data processed by individuals for personal or domestic purposes. • Does NOT apply to personal data that is already publicly available either voluntarily by the Data Principal or under any law.

Key Points

✓Covers digital personal data processed in India
✓Extraterritorial reach for businesses offering goods/services in India
✓Excludes personal/domestic processing
✓Excludes publicly available personal data

Official Text (Summary)

The Act applies to processing of digital personal data within India where data is collected in digital form or digitised subsequently. It also applies to processing outside India if connected with offering goods or services to Data Principals in India. It does not apply to personal data processed for personal/domestic purposes, or data made publicly available by the Data Principal or under a legal obligation.

Source: The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (No. 22 of 2023), Ministry of Law and Justice.

More Sections in Chapter I

Sec. 1 Sec. 2 Sec. 3

All Chapters

I. Preliminary II. Obligations of Data Fiduciary III. Rights and Duties of Data Principal IV. Special Provisions V. Data Protection Board of India VI. Powers, Functions and Procedure to be Followed by Board VII. Appeal and Alternate Dispute Resolution VIII. Penalties and Adjudication IX. Miscellaneous

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