India's MeitY launches DEPA framework for secure AI data training

The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has launched the Handbook on Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA) for AI training. Unveiled by IT Secretary S. Krishnan at a roundtable in Bengaluru, the framework aims to facilitate secure data collaboration while protecting privacy, intellectual property, and institutional control.

The DEPA framework establishes a techno-legal structure for purpose-bound data sharing. It utilizes contractual permissions, controlled computing environments, and privacy-enhancing safeguards. A key feature is data provenance, which allows the origin, permissions, and usage of data to be tracked throughout the AI training process to ensure transparency and accountability.

Principal Scientific Adviser Ajay Kumar Sood noted that under this architecture, the AI model travels to the data rather than the data being transferred, which enables multi-party and cross-border collaboration. The initiative was developed with support from the iSPIRT Foundation.