Rahul Slams Centre Govt on Data Sovereignty 'India Kept in Dark'

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday raised concerns over India's data sovereignty and asserted that the country should be leading the global tech race, but instead it is being kept in the dark about how its data will be protected. 

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said India's data belongs to its people and in the AI economy, it can be one of its biggest strengths - to build AI, grow companies, and create jobs.

"So I asked the Centre government some important questions about the recent



trade deal with the US:- What does 'reducing barriers' with the United States mean for our data? Will our health data, financial data, and government databases stay in India? Can India still require foreign companies to store data here and use it to build our own AI?" Gandhi said in a post on his WhatsApp channel. 

"Every question on our data sovereignty, health data, AI, and local data storage gets the same treatment: 'framework', 'balance', 'autonomy' - big words, zero specifics," the former Congress president said.