BN Srikrishna is expected to be the most sought-after ex-judge in India this week. The septuagenarian will be submitting his recommendations to frame and draft the data-privacy laws in India, which in turn will help to regulate companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook. He, therefore, will leave a big imprint on India's handling of data privacy issues in the decades to come.

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“India has accelerated from a 'bail gaadi' economy to a silicon-chip economy,” said Srikrishna, talking to TOI. “But privacy and data regulation rules are still far behind,” he added. 

India has progressed at a break-neck pace in the age of digital media with over 37 crore users by the end of 2017. The massive user database generated in India's data-rich economy, has become a breeding ground for privacy breach and that is why it's incredibly important to have data protection laws in place.

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Srikrishna, therefore, is wary of big companies exploiting the unregulated data environment in India. “Like we keep diabetes and blood pressure in check, controls are needed for data,” Srikrishna said. “Companies like Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Flipkart are extremely nervous."

The ex-judge retired in 2006 from the Supreme Court and is currently heading a team of 10 people - from academia and the government – to finish the bill, that will need the Parliament's approval to be turned into a law. 

India has a long road ahead to ensure that the user data is safe when accessed by companies, but as BN Srikrishna himself says - the road to framing the laws is not that difficult, but enforcing those laws is definitely going to be a challenge.