Prasad calls on Sri Lanka PM, discusses IT & law

Union Law and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who is in Colombo to attend the Commonwealth Law Minister's Conference, on Thursday called on Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wikramsinghe and discussed mutual cooperation between India and Sri Lanka in the field of law and information technology.

According to an official statement, they discussed areas of mutual interest in the law and information technology space.

The four-day conference, being attended by the Law Ministers and the Attorney Generals from Commonwealth countries, will seek to address challenges faced by millions of people and to resolve legal problems or disputes.

Addressing the conference on Wednesday, Prasad said India took the issue of privacy, especially informational privacy, seriously and data imperialism would not be tolerated.

"We are living in the age of IT and data is going to play a crucial role in the digital economy discourse. In India, we view privacy seriously and informational privacy is also integral to that. It means a person must have control over his data and its commercial usage," he said.

He also elaborated on the evolution of data law in India, recommendations of the Justice Shri Krishna Committee, the public consultations, and added the government was looking at tabling a Bill on the matter in Parliament.

-IANS