US Tech Giants Push Back Against India's Forced Data-Sharing Plan: Report

A group representing the United States technology giants is pushing back against India’s plans to regulate “non-personal” data, Reuters reported Sunday.

The Proposal: An Indian government panel is proposing a data-sharing mechanism to boost a digital ecosystem, which may lead to firms, such as Facebook Inc FB, Alphabet Inc GOOGL GOOG and Amazon.com, Inc AMZN, having to share data with their competitors, according to Reuters.

The panel has also recommended setting up a new regulator for overseeing data that has been stripped of personal details. Such data is crucial for technology companies.

The Rebuttal: The U.S.-India Business Council, under the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, is criticizing the Indian government’s data-sharing move, saying, it's “tantamount to confiscation of investors’ assets and [undermines] intellectual property protections."

Kris Gopalakrishnan, who heads the Indian panel said the group will review industry inputs and work with the government. The panel has reportedly recommended data sharing for research, national security and policymaking purposes.

The U.S and India are also in disagreement over other issues, such as digital taxes and tariffs, Reuters noted.

Tech companies, such as Facebook and Alphabet, have been upping their investments in Indian retail and tech sectors in recent months.

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