As India is pressing foreign companies to store user’s data locally within the country’s territory, global cyber-security firm with base in Russia, Kaspersky Lab said that it was ready to “adopt and comply” with the proposed policy by India to store data generated in the country within its borders.

“The data protection bill is not released yet in India. Once this (data localization) requirement comes out, we need to adopt and we want to comply,” Kaspersky Lab’s Managing Director Stephan Neumeier told News Agencies on the sidelines of the firm’s 4th Asia Pacific (APAC) cyber-security annual summit here recently.

The governments focus on the issue of data localization can be derived from the goals set in the Draft National Communications Policy 2018, along with many other Indian government notifications and guidelines in this regard, like the notification of Reserve Bank of India over Payment Data Storage 2018, and also the guidelines issued for government departments for contractual terms related to Cloud Storage 2017.

Such proposals are being seen with various factors attributed to them with the rationale such as: Ensuring data privacy, securing citizen’s data, national security and economic development of the country.

Due to the unfettered access and control of user-data enjoyed by the foreign technology companies after collecting extensive data has allowed them to easily and freely process and monetise Indian user’s data outside the country. The issue has raised many concerns over the guarantee of data protection and privacy concerns.

Accordinig Neumeier, the matter was discussed with Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) (INDIA) chief Gulshan Rai in September by him and other Kaspersky members.

He said that Kaspersky Lab received significant and positive support from the government of India and the interest and demand on “our technology together” was open there.

The meetings over data localisation in India could also have its impact where in Asia Pacific the company may come up with its “Transparency Centre” – from where data of the region can be easily stored and processed.

Neumeier asserted that Kaspersky Lab was eager and ready to find any solution about the requirements set by India for data localisation when it comes into effect, and noted that India is not ideally located for the Transparency Centre of Asia Pacific of the company.

“Because, if we open a Transparency Centre in India, we will also open a data centre there. And with that, we would have the capabilities to store Indian data in India,” Neumeier said.

Mr. Neumeier noted that Kaspersky was ready to open the company’s first and only Transparency Centre in Zurich, Switzerland, in November and said that the company was looking actively at Asia Pacific to arrange for a similar set-up and that it had brought up the issue with the Indian government for discussion.

“We have all the support that we can imagine from the Indian government. However, we need to look into specific requirements before we make a decision where we are going to open that facility,” Neumeier said.

“One is obviously location. We want to fly in people there. It needs to provide easy accessibility. So, India is probably, for Asia Pacific, not a perfect place because it is not very, very central.”

However, he said, all the other “boxes” like “growth in market, access to good talent are very well checked”.

“The skills and capabilities available in India, you won’t find in many countries in Asia Pacific. People are very highly qualified and they really understand their stuff. So, that is the big check.”

When enquired about the business plans of Kaspersky in India, Neumeier said that the country remains one of the “focus markets in Asia Pacific because of its large population”.

“We see massive investment in the manufacturing area in India as it is already becoming more and more a manufacturing powerhouse. A lot of commercial business is already on the growth path and will be growing in future. So, demand for cyber-security technology is obviously rising.”

Cyber-security could prove to be a major concern for the Indian government with its “Digital India” initiative to increase the digitization of India.

You May Also Read: Metro Rail Coaches To Be Produced By Railways In India Under Make In India Initiative