Compliance Auditor — DPDP Act 2023

Audit a feature specification against India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023. Identifies personal data elements, maps them to DPDP sections, checks for consent/retention/security policies, and flags compliance gaps.

Workflow

1. Read the feature spec — Focus on data elements, PII sections, compliance sections
2. Identify data elements — Extract every data element from the spec
3. Classify as personal data — Determine if each element is personal data under DPDP
4. Map to DPDP sections — For each personal data element, identify applicable DPDP requirements
5. Check policies — Verify consent, purpose limitation, retention, security, and deletion policies exist
6. Generate audit report — Output the audit table and gap analysis

DPDP Act 2023 — Key Provisions

Definitions (Section 2)

Term	DPDP Definition
Personal data	Any data about an individual who is identifiable by or in relation to such data
Data Principal	The individual whose personal data is being processed
Data Fiduciary	The entity that determines the purpose and means of processing
Data Processor	The entity that processes data on behalf of a Data Fiduciary
Significant Data Fiduciary	A Data Fiduciary notified by the government based on volume/sensitivity of data
Child	Individual below the age of 18 years

Obligations of Data Fiduciary (Section 8)

#	Obligation	Check
1	Lawful purpose — Process data only for a lawful purpose for which Data Principal has given consent	Purpose stated in spec? Consent mechanism defined?
2	Purpose limitation — Use data only for the purpose for which it was collected	Each data element has a stated purpose? No secondary use without fresh consent?
3	Data minimization — Collect only data necessary for the stated purpose	Each element justified by a spec requirement?
4	Accuracy — Ensure personal data is complete, accurate, and not misleading	Data validation rules defined?
5	Retention limitation — Retain data only as long as necessary for the stated purpose, then erase	Retention period specified per data element? Erasure procedure defined?
6	Reasonable security safeguards — Protect personal data with appropriate technical and organizational measures	Encryption at rest and in transit? Access control defined?

Consent Requirements (Section 6)

#	Requirement	Check
1	Free, specific, informed, unconditional, unambiguous consent with clear affirmative action	Consent UI/UX defined? Not bundled with T&C?
2	Itemized consent — Separate consent for each purpose if multiple purposes exist	Separate consent per data processing activity?
3	Consent withdrawal — Data Principal can withdraw consent at any time, as easily as giving it	Withdrawal mechanism defined and accessible?
4	Notice before consent — Provide notice in clear, plain language describing data and purpose	Notice content defined? Available in English and scheduled Indian languages?

Rights of Data Principal (Section 11-14)

#	Right	Check
1	Right to access — Summary of personal data being processed and processing activities	Access/download mechanism defined?
2	Right to correction and erasure — Request correction of inaccurate/incomplete data, erasure of data no longer needed	Edit and delete workflows defined?
3	Right to grievance redressal — Nominate a grievance officer, respond within prescribed time	Grievance officer designated? Response SLA defined?
4	Right to nominate — Nominate another person to exercise rights in case of death/incapacity	Nomination mechanism considered?

Children's Data (Section 9) — CRITICAL

#	Requirement	Check
1	Verifiable guardian consent — Before processing any child's data, obtain verifiable consent from parent/guardian	Guardian consent mechanism defined? Age verification present?
2	No tracking or behavioral monitoring — Must not track, monitor, or do behavioral analysis of children	Feature does not profile children beyond stated purpose?
3	No targeted advertising — Must not target advertising at children	No ad-related data collection or usage?
4	No detrimental processing — Must not process data in a manner that causes detrimental effect to a child	No public ranking, shaming, or disadvantaging features?

Data Breach Notification (Section 8(6))

#	Requirement	Check
1	Notify Data Protection Board — In the event of a personal data breach, inform the Board in prescribed manner	Breach notification procedure defined?
2	Notify affected Data Principals — Inform each affected individual	User notification mechanism defined?

Penalties (Section 33)

Violation	Maximum Penalty
Failure to take security safeguards (breach)	Rs 250 crore
Failure to notify breach	Rs 200 crore
Non-compliance with children's data provisions	Rs 200 crore
Non-compliance with Data Fiduciary obligations	Rs 150 crore
Non-compliance with additional Significant Data Fiduciary obligations	Rs 150 crore

Output Format

# DPDP Compliance Audit Report

**Spec:** {spec file}
**Feature:** {feature name}
**Audited:** {DD-MM-YYYY}
**Regulation:** Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (India)

## 1. Data Element Inventory

| # | Data Element | Category | Personal Data? | Source | Purpose | Retention |
|---|-------------|----------|---------------|--------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | User name | Identity | Yes | {spec section} | Personalization | Account lifetime |
| 2 | Usage duration | Activity | Yes (linkable) | {spec section} | Analytics | 2 years |

## 2. DPDP Compliance Check

| # | Data Element | DPDP Section | Requirement | Status | Gap |
|---|-------------|-------------|-------------|--------|-----|
| 1 | User name | S.6 | Consent — free, specific, informed | Compliant | — |
| 2 | User name | S.8(3) | Retention limitation | Gap | No retention period defined |
| 3 | User name | S.8(4) | Erasure after purpose fulfilled | Gap | No erasure workflow defined |
| 4 | Child age | S.9 | Verifiable guardian consent | Compliant | — |

## 3. Children's Data Audit (Section 9)

| # | Requirement | Status | Evidence | Gap |
|---|------------|--------|----------|-----|
| 1 | Guardian consent mechanism | Compliant/Gap | {description} | {if gap} |
| 2 | No tracking/behavioral monitoring | Compliant/Gap | {description} | {if gap} |
| 3 | No targeted advertising | Compliant/Gap | {description} | {if gap} |
| 4 | No detrimental processing | Compliant/Gap | {description} | {if gap} |

## 4. Data Principal Rights Check

| # | Right | DPDP Section | Mechanism Defined? | Status |
|---|------|-------------|-------------------|--------|
| 1 | Access | S.11 | {yes/no} | Compliant/Gap |
| 2 | Correction & Erasure | S.12 | {yes/no} | Compliant/Gap |
| 3 | Grievance Redressal | S.13 | {yes/no} | Compliant/Gap |
| 4 | Nomination | S.14 | {yes/no} | Compliant/Gap |

## 5. Masking & Security Audit

| # | Data Element | Masking Required? | Masking Method | At Rest Encryption | In Transit Encryption | Status |
|---|-------------|-------------------|----------------|--------------------|-----------------------|--------|

## 6. Summary

| Status | Count |
|--------|-------|
| Compliant | {N} |
| Needs Review | {N} |
| Gap (Must Fix) | {N} |

**Penalty Exposure:** {estimated based on gap severity}

## 7. Required Actions

### Gaps (Must Fix Before Review)
1. **{Data Element} — DPDP S.{section} — {Requirement}**
   Gap: {description}
   Fix: {specific action to add to the spec}
   Penalty risk: {relevant penalty from Section 33}

### Needs Review (Discuss with Legal)
1. **{Data Element} — DPDP S.{section}**
   Question: {what needs clarification}

Rules

1. When in doubt, flag it — Classify uncertain data as personal data and flag for review
2. Linkable data is personal data — Data linkable to a specific person (even via session ID) is personal data under DPDP
3. Children = strictest requirements — Section 9 applies to all individuals under 18. No exceptions.
4. Analytics events are data — Event tracking creates personal data about user behavior. Include in audit.
5. Don't assume compliance — If a policy isn't explicitly stated in the spec, it's a gap
6. Consent must be granular — Bundled consent (buried in T&C) does not satisfy Section 6
7. Retention must be finite — "Account lifetime" is not acceptable without a defined account deletion policy

Anti-Patterns

• Don't skip the children's data audit — Section 9 penalties are up to Rs 200 crore
• Don't treat consent as a checkbox — DPDP requires free, specific, informed consent
• Don't assume "anonymized" data is exempt — verify the anonymization is irreversible
• Don't ignore Data Principal rights — access, correction, erasure, and grievance mechanisms are mandatory

Quality Checklist

• Every data element from the spec is inventoried
• Personal data classification applied to each element
• DPDP sections mapped per element
• Children's data audit completed (Section 9)
• Data Principal rights check completed (Sections 11-14)
• Consent mechanism verified (Section 6)
• Retention periods specified (Section 8(3))
• Security safeguards defined (Section 8(4))
• Masking and encryption audit completed
• Gaps have specific fix recommendations with penalty references