Personal data privacy should be users' choice, says Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma

Should internet users get the opt-in option where their privacy or safety is involved? The question has trickled a smorgasbord of concerns across the globe, particularly in recent years, over how to safeguard personal data privacy.
 
Concurring with veteran tech journalist Walt Mossberg's views to give the ultimate decision making power in the hands of the user, Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma took to Twitter to state that personal data privacy is all about this. He added that consumers should be given the choice "to be tracked or not."
 
"Personal data privacy is simply about this. Imagine a world where it is not up to a company but an obligation on all internet platforms to give consumers a choice to be tracked or not !" he tweeted.
 

Mossberg, a former WSJ columnist, took to Twitter on Friday talking about Apple's new notification asking users if they want to be tracked all over the web to aid in targeted advertising.

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With many people saying no, the veteran journalist stated that the tech giant's privacy changes have made things worse for Facebook and Snapchat parent Snap Inc., who have complained that their businesses are suffering due to Apple's new notification.
 
Much to its chagrin, Snap Inc. on Friday posted its biggest one-day drop on record after warning that Apple's data collection rules coupled with global supply-chain bottlenecks are weighing on its advertising spending.
 
The social media company's stock plunged 27%, wiping out around $32 billion of a market value that now stands at around $89 billion.
 
The cautious outlook also casts a shadow over other ad-dependent peers, comprising Facebook Inc., Google-owner Alphabet Inc., Twitter Inc., and Pinterest Inc., which also fell between 3% and 5% each.

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"There's a lot of rhetoric from the privacy thieves around this development. But it's really pretty simple: @Apple changed the game from a hard-to-use opt-out to a very easy opt-in. Nobody's barred from being tracked. People are just being given a clear choice," Mossberg said in a series of tweets.
 
He added that opt-in is the way the web should work every time users' privacy or safety is involved. He even backed a law "requiring that opt-in be used in these cases."
 
"Let people choose whether they want to relinquish their privacy," Mossberg further stated.
 
Meanwhile in India, the Parliament's Joint Committee on the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 2019, has concluded its deliberations, with many MPs emphasising that the data fiduciaries, service providers in this context, should be held accountable if a breach of privacy happens.

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The report, which also comprises a draft amended bill, will be disseminated to all members once again post their approval. It will be finalised before November 12 to be eventually tabled in the Parliament in the winter session.
 
The draft of the bill, approved by the Cabinet in December 2019, proposes to put restriction on the use of personal data without the explicit consent of citizens.
 
Proposing a penalty of up to Rs 15 crore and up to three-year jail term for company executives for violating privacy norms, the bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha in February 2018.