The industry organization Nasscom has adopted a neutral position regarding India's potential participation in the global Cross Border Privacy Rules (CBPR) forum, indicating that the advantages must be evaluated against the possibility of imposing another compliance obligation on the industry.

The creation of the CBPR was led by the U.S. Department of Commerce. The countries that are part of this forum include Canada, Japan, Korea, the Philippines, Singapore, Taipei, and the United States.

The CBPR Forum has introduced a multilateral enforcement framework known as the Global Cooperation Arrangement for Privacy Enforcement (Global CAPE) to enhance collaboration on data protection and privacy enforcement among its member nations.

The CBPR framework seeks to implement a certification-based system for both data controllers and processors, aimed at safeguarding privacy and securing personal information.

CBPR is a voluntary, accountability-focused certification framework that enables cross-border data exchanges. The objective of this system is to create an international benchmark for data privacy.

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Various Indian government departments, agencies, and regulators, such as the Department of Commerce, the Reserve Bank of India, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority, the International Financial Services Centres Authority, the National Payments Corporation of India, and the Open Network for Digital Commerce, were involved in the discussions.

"Cross-border processing of personal data underpins digital trade, but it remains entangled in divergent national rules. Governments need to assess whether certifications truly bolster trust and whether cooperation will be substantive," says Ashish Aggarwal, vice president and head of public policy, Nasscom.

Nasscom and the Data Security Council of India, in collaboration with MeitY and the Ministry of External Affairs, had convened a technical workshop last September to examine the Global CBPR framework and its relevance for India.

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The CBPR framework promises to establish baseline interoperability across member countries while accepting that each government’s approach will vary by context and priority, like India's own Digital Personal Data Protection Act.