Outsourcing and security: issues in the Indian BPO sector

There is no specific legislation dealing with data protection in India but there is a comprehensive legal framework around the subject, as Pravin Anand and Shantanu Sahay describe.

A primary concern for the managers of a business outsourcing work to India is data security. Security breaches may result in losing not only large sums of money and potentially sensitive data but also the trust of the client. Data security is an essential aspect of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.

Although there is no specific legislation dealing with data protection the jurisprudence relating to data security has its source in the Indian Constitution, Article 21 of which states that no person will be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedures established by law.

Judicial activism has led to the inclusion of privacy within the realm of fundamental rights and, further, the Supreme Court has on various occasions held that personal liberty means life free from encroachments unsustainable in law. Any unlawful invasion of privacy would make the offender liable for the consequences in accordance with the law.