Lok Sabha Question No. 574 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-23
Subject: Concerns of Data Privacy and National Security with DeepSeek AI
Ministry: ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: Shri Manish Tewari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 574

TO BE ANSWERED ON: 23.07.2025

## CONCERNS OF DATA PRIVACY AND NATIONAL SECURITY WITH DEEPSEEK AI

## 574. SHRI MANISH TEWARI:

Will the Minister of ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state: (a) whether the Union Government is aware of the data privacy and national security concerns associated with the DeepSeek AI application, as highlighted by several international organisations; (b) the details of steps, if any, taken by the Government to assess the data storage, processing and

- security practices of DeepSeek AI, particularly with regard to Indian users' personal data;
- (c) the reasons for not banning the DeepSeek AI application in the country, despite bans imposed by other countries to safeguard national security and user data privacy; and
- (d) whether the Government proposes to issue any advisories or take regulatory measures to ensure that Indian citizens' data is not exposed to potential misuse through such applications and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR ELECTRONICS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI JITIN PRASADA)

(a) to (d): India's AI strategy is based on the Hon'ble Prime Minister's vision to democratize the use of technology. It aims to address India centric challenges, create economic and employment opportunities for all Indians.

## AI ecosystem in India at present:

India has a strong information technology ecosystem. It generates annual revenues of more than 250 billion dollars and provides employment to more than 6 million people.

Global rankings such as Stanford AI rankings place India among the top countries in AI skills, capabilities,  and  policies  to  use  AI.  India  is  also  the  second-largest  contributor  to  GitHub  AI projects, showcasing its vibrant developer community.

## India's AI strategy:

India's AI strategy aims to position India as a global leader in artificial intelligence. Government launched  IndiaAI  mission  in  March  2024.  It  is  a  strategic  initiative  to  establish  a  robust  and inclusive AI ecosystem aligned with India's development goals through its seven key pillars.

## Hosting open-source AI models:

MeitY  is  in  the  process  of  hosting  open-source  AI  models  on  the  AIRAWAT  compute infrastructure managed by CDAC-Pune. At present, three open-source models from the LLAMA

family have been deployed and are accessible to the developer community via API on a chargeable basis.

## Legal provisions under IT Act, 2000:

- Sections 66C (Punishment for identity theft) deals with misinformation, deepfakes, cheating by personation or identity theft.
- Section  66D  of  the  IT  Act  criminalizes  the  use  of  computer  resources  for  cheating  by personation.
- Section 66E prescribes the punishment for capturing and publishing or transmitting the image of a private area of any person without his or her consent.
- Section 67A and 67B  make publishing or transmitting obscene material for instance, which could be generated by using deepfake technology a punishable offence.

## Legal provisions under BharatiyaNyay Sanhita, 2023:

- Section 111 of the BNS punishes the commission of any continuing unlawful activity including economic offence, cyber-crimes, by any person or a group of persons, either as a member of an organised crime syndicate or on behalf of such syndicate.
- Several other sections under the BNS also deal with cyber-crimes like cheating or cheating by personation  such  as  sections  318  (Cheating),  319  (cheating  by  personation),  353  (public mischief), 356 (defamation).

## Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023

- It  casts  obligations  on  Data  Fiduciaries  to  safeguard  digital  personal  data,  holding  them accountable, while also ensuring the rights and duties of Data Principals.

## Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 ('IT Rules, 2021')

- Central  Government  after  extensive  public  consultations  with  relevant  stakeholders  has notified the IT Rules, 2021.
- The  IT  Rules  cast  specific  legal  obligations  on  intermediaries,  including  social  media intermediaries and platforms, to ensure their accountability towards safe and trusted internet including their expeditious action towards removal of the prohibited misinformation, patently false information and deepfakes.
- In case of failure of the intermediaries to observe the legal obligations, they are liable for consequential action or prosecution as provided under the extant laws.
- Under  the  IT  Rules  2021,  there  is  a  provisions  grievance  redressal  mechanism  by  the intermediaries which inter-alia provides 24 hours of timelines for any grievances relating to morphed  or  artificially  generated  images  affecting  the  victim.    If  not  satisfied  with  the grievance redressal, aggrieved persons can approach Grievance Appellate Committee.
- Ministry of Home  Affairs has launched a dedicated portal to report cybercrimes [cybercrime.gov.in] and has also started a toll-free number 1930.

## Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) Advisories/Guidelines:

- An advisory on safety measures to be taken to minimize the adversarial threats arising from Artificial Intelligence (AI) based applications was published in May 2023.
- The Certified Security Professional in Artificial Intelligence (CSPAI) program launched by CERT-In and SISA in September 2024.
- An  advisory  depicting  best  practices  for  effective  and  responsible  use  of  Generative  AI solutions was published in March 2025.
- Technical  guidelines  for  Bill  of  Materials  (BOM)  for  Software,  Hardware,  Artificial Intelligence and Quantum & Cryptography requirements have been issued for enhancing the security and transparency of software and emerging technologies supply chains in July 2025.
- The CSPAI program equips cybersecurity professionals with the skills to secure AI systems, proactively  address  AI-related  threats,  and  ensure  trustworthy  AI  deployment  in  business environments.

Government  has  constituted  an  Advisory  Group  on  AI  for  India-specific  regulatory  AI framework under the chairmanship of Principal Scientific Advisor (PSA) to Prime Minister. It has members from diverse stakeholders from academia, industry and government.

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