Business · India Bureau
India launches DEPA handbook to secure AI training data sharing
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has unveiled a framework enabling institutions to collaborate on artificial intelligence training while maintaining control over sensitive data. The handbook addresses growing concerns around privacy and intellectual property in the AI era.
LSN India ·
India's Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has released a handbook on Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA) designed to facilitate secure data sharing for artificial intelligence development. IT Secretary S Krishnan unveiled the framework at a roundtable in Bengaluru, with technical support from the iSPIRT Foundation.
The DEPA handbook establishes a techno-legal framework allowing multiple institutions to collaborate on AI training datasets without surrendering data ownership or control. The approach combines contractual permissions with controlled computing environments and privacy-enhancing safeguards to balance innovation with protection.
A key feature of the framework is data provenance tracking, which enables the origin, permissions and usage of data to be traced throughout the AI training process. This mechanism supports institutional accountability and transparency, addressing longstanding concerns about how data is utilised in machine learning applications.
The initiative responds to India's need for diverse, high-quality datasets to advance AI capabilities across sectors. As artificial intelligence becomes increasingly central to economic and social development, the framework addresses growing concerns around privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property rights and institutional control that have traditionally hindered data collaboration.