IAMAI India Digital Summit: Our cyber world cannot be ruled by private company policies, says Paytm founder

“We cannot have our cyber world ruled and governed by private company policies,” Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder of Paytm said in a conversation with Anant Goenka, Executive Director, The Indian Express Group. The two interacted at the India Digital Summit 2021 organised by the IAMAI (Internet and Mobile Association of India).  Sharma also spoke about the importance of privacy policies, and how they affect users in the country. Check out the full video below.

Speaking about an Indian alternative to popular services like Google and Facebook, Sharma also explained that just because a product is made in India will not guarantee its supremacy and that ultimately, stressing that the superior product that will come out on top. He suggested that the focus should be on creating a superior product rather than an Indian product.

“I think India will make the world’s most superior products, and that is why we will win,” he added.

Sharma also shared his views on an all-Indian app store controlled and not a commercial company that does not originate from India. “An app store that is controlled by the laws of this country, irrespective of who operates it”, he said during the conversation.

Regulations always come after innovation, says Sharma

On being asked if a data protection bill was too late to be considered, Sharma explained that it is always the innovation that comes first and the regulators that step in later. “Regulators by the government are followers by design,” stated Sharma, adding that “they cannot make a rule for a technology that is still in beta”.

Sharma also suggested that the government will step in the technology-business sector just like it has been enforcing rules and regulation in other areas. “The governments not just in India, but across the world, are far more actively participating in this business model,” he added.

Data should be protected within the country

Drawing a parallel to Indian citizens and resources being protected from outside interference by the borders, Sharma also added that the data generated in India should also be protected in a similar manner within the country’s borders. “That data can be abused by commercial companies, and you would underestimate how,” Sharma said.

He insisted that there is nothing stopping ‘data that needs to be processed first’, from being processed in India itself. He added that both government and companies should look at India beyond being just a market, but also the sizeable source of data that it is.