India data privacy rules may be too strict for some U.S. companies

Published: May 21

Data privacy rules enacted last month in India are now alarming some U.S. companies, which worry that they may be too restrictive.

The rules in India’s Information Technology Act govern the collection and use of personal information including banking and medical details. But business leaders in India and the United States worry that they add a cumbersome layer of disclosures such as obtaining written consent from each customer before collecting and using personal data.

Google has protested some sections of the rules, which make Internet intermediaries responsible for any objectionable content, which is defined as “harassing,” “grossly harmful” or “ethnically objectionable.”

The rules about data privacy will apply to all Indian organizations and will affect multinational corporations that outsource business operations to India or have opened back-offices here.

More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/india-data-privacy-rules-may-be-too-strict-for-some-us-companies/2011/05/18/AF9QJc8G_story.html

As someone who spent my last two weeks at work training my Indian replacements....awwwwwwwwwwww