‘She’ & ‘Her’ To Refer To All Genders In Draft Personal Data Protection Bill

New Delhi: In at first, the Central Government used the female pronouns “she” and “her” to refer to all individuals in its draft Personal Data Protection Bill on Friday.

Seeking public opinion, the Union Minister for Railways, Communications, Electronics, and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw today shared a link to the PDF of the draft bill.

“We have attempted in the philosophy of women’s empowerment that Prime Minister Narendra Modi Ji’s government works to use the words she and her in the entire bill, instead of he, him and his. So this is an innovative thing which has been attempted in the bill,” Minister Vaishnaw said.

Seeking your views on draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022.

Link below: https://t.co/8KfrwBnoF0

— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) November 18, 2022

The interpretation section of the draft Bill stated, “In this Act… the pronouns “her” and “she” have been used for an individual, irrespective of gender.”

And further, under the section on deemed consent, the draft stated, “A Data Principal is deemed to have given consent to the processing of her personal
data if such processing is necessary.”

The draft bill will undergo extensive consultation and the government is aiming to introduce it in Parliament by the next Budget Session.