The Centre will float an all-new framework for the governance of citizen data that will set standards for its storage, collection and use solely by the government, Union minister of state for electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in an exclusive interview with ET, following stringent criticism of the previous India Data Accessibility and Use Policy, which was opened for public consultation in February.

In response to the widespread concern over sharing of citizen data and its subsequent monetisation by government agencies, the Centre has now revised the proposed legislation that will now be termed as National Data Governance Framework and Policy, the minister said.

ET has reviewed a copy of the new policy which has done away with provisions related to “monetisation” and will not be applicable to private entities. It is to be released for public consultation in the coming week.

“The feedback on the previous policy called the ‘India Data Accessibility and Use’ was that the name itself (was) being misunderstood, it almost seemed like it was a data sharing policy, which it was not. We have now rejigged the policy framework,” Chandrasekhar said.

The brand new legislation will form part of the government’s ambitious digital legislation architecture also consisting of the Personal Data Protection Bill, the cybersecurity policy and an upcoming new Digital Law.

Read the full conversation here.