India, Jan. 2 -- In 2026, Indian companies will be forced to ask a question that would have sounded absurd even a year ago: when does it make sense to delete perfectly usable data, on purpose? Not because the data is wrong. Not because it lacks value. But because keeping it may now cost more than letting it go. That is the quiet shift the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDA) triggers this year. Privacy, for the first time, is no longer a debate about rights. It is a question of systems, cost and scale.

This is because the rules are now settled and have moved into execution mode. So, in 2026, privacy will no longer be tested in courtrooms, but inside databases, software systems and supply chains that process personal data continuou...