📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs
Business
India's New Data Protection Act Complicates Journalism and Media Business
✍️ ThePrint
🗓 03 Nov 2026, 03:45 PM
👁 1
The recently enacted Data Protection Act imposes strict data‑handling rules that are raising operational challenges for Indian news organisations and their business models.
The Data Protection Act, approved by Parliament this year, introduces rigorous requirements for the collection, storage and processing of personal information across all sectors, including the media.
Under the law, news organisations must obtain explicit consent before using individuals' data, maintain detailed audit trails and appoint a data protection officer, thereby adding new layers of compliance and cost.
Media houses say the heightened obligations hinder fast‑moving investigative reporting, where quick access to data is essential, and could disrupt advertising revenue streams that rely on data‑driven targeting.
Industry bodies have cautioned that smaller outlets may struggle to meet the regulatory burden, potentially narrowing the diversity of news content available to the public.
Under the law, news organisations must obtain explicit consent before using individuals' data, maintain detailed audit trails and appoint a data protection officer, thereby adding new layers of compliance and cost.
Media houses say the heightened obligations hinder fast‑moving investigative reporting, where quick access to data is essential, and could disrupt advertising revenue streams that rely on data‑driven targeting.
Industry bodies have cautioned that smaller outlets may struggle to meet the regulatory burden, potentially narrowing the diversity of news content available to the public.