Working with “Last Mile” Data Protection in India

India’s digital economy is characterized by “last mile” data protection, with privacy norms, data collection and sharing standards being set at the level of the application (“app”), operating system (OS) and the device. This practice lends itself to multiple, often crisscrossing rules maintained by smartphone manufacturers, mobile operating system vendors and application developers. The user is caught in a maze of privacy policies that bear on important questions: what data is collected, where it is stored, who it is shared with, and legal recourse in the face of policy violations or unauthorized use of data by third parties.

Contributing to the confusion is the lack of statutory or regulatory clarity on data protection. India’s own data protection rules offer wide latitude to technology companies to determine their own practices, which encourage irregular and poorly enforced privacy policies. If regulatory ambiguity has opened the door for conflicting data protection guidelines, the problem is compounded by India’s heavy reliance on foreign devices and applications, many of which transfer data of Indian users outside India’s borders and base their privacy policies on their home jurisdictions. This system of “last mile” data protection significantly diminishes the state’s ability to protect the privacy of its citizens, a right that was recently confirmed as “inalienable” by the Supreme Court of India.
This paper highlights “last mile” protection through an analysis of policies at the app, OS and device layer — using the examples of the Google Play Developer Distribution Agreement, Google Developer Policy, the India-specific privacy policies of smartphone manufacturers Huawei, Vivo and Xiaomi, as well as the privacy policy of WhatsApp. While acknowledging that such policies are here to stay and that it may not be feasible to craft statutory guidelines that comprehensively address every dimension of data sharing and collection, given the diversity in technological platforms, the paper makes the case for a self-regulating, autonomous and multi-stakeholder agency for protecting the integrity of user data.
Available in:
Regions and themes
ISBN / ISSN
Share
Download the full analysis
This page contains only a summary of our work. If you would like to have access to all the information from our research on the subject, you can download the full version in PDF format.
Working with “Last Mile” Data Protection in India
Related centers and programs
Discover our other research centers and programsFind out more
Discover all our analysesSri Lanka’s NPP Government. From System Change to Structural Compliance
In September 2024, a relative outsider to Sri Lanka’s two-party-dominated political system, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, won the presidential elections. The anti-establishment, populist movement he represented, the National People’s Power (NPP), went on to receive an overwhelming mandate in the November 2024 general elections, winning 159 seats in a 225-member parliament.
Japan Under Trump: Alliance Strains, the Push for Autonomy and Essential Partnerships
Japan is under pressure from the United States (US) on punitive tariffs and demands for increased defence spending. This has sparked deep concern over US credibility and triggered growing domestic calls for greater autonomy.
Quest for Strategic Autonomy? Europe Grapples with the US - China Rivalry
Building on the 2020 European Think Tank Network on China (ETNC) report, which assessed Europe’s positioning amid the strategic rivalry between the United States and China, this edition re-examines the geopolitical landscape in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s war in Ukraine and Donald Trump’s return to the White House. This report features 22 national chapters and one dedicated to the EU, analysing the evolution of Europe’s relations with Washington and Beijing, the range of approaches to dealing the US-China rivalry and how these are expected to evolve.

France seeks third way between US and China in Southeast Asia
The French leader sent a message of partnership but gave few concrete details on sustained engagement plans.