ISAS Briefs

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a regulation law that governs data protection and privacy for all individuals in the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area. The GDPR was adopted in 2016 and became enforceable in May 2018. The regulation saw many private companies and websites worldwide change their privacy statements due to fears of data breaches resulting in heavy economic sanctions. While there is concern among private corporations that the EU-based GDPR standards will impose heavier data privacy regulations here in Asia, the current differences in the level and scope of data privacy standards in India and the Southeast Asian countries reveal a low level of readiness to embrace regional information and communications technology (ICT) cooperation. In the case of ICT cooperation between India and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), whether this non-standardisation could limit future cross-border ecommerce and e-governance exchanges depends highly on the next course of action by India and ASEAN