Section 14: Right to Nominate

Quick summary

What Section 14 says

• Sub-section (1) — a Data Principal has the right to nominate, in the prescribed manner, any other individual who shall, in the event of her death or incapacity, exercise her rights under the Act and rules.
• Sub-section (2) — for this section, “incapacity” means inability to exercise the Data Principal's rights under the Act or rules, due to unsoundness of mind or infirmity of body.

Breaking it down

There's no equivalent right in many comparable data protection laws — Section 14 specifically recognises that data rights shouldn't simply lapse when someone dies or loses capacity, and lets them designate in advance who steps into their shoes.

• Trigger 1

  Death

  The nominee steps in to exercise the Data Principal's rights.

• Trigger 2 · Sub-s. (2)

  Incapacity

  Inability to exercise rights due to unsoundness of mind or infirmity of body — not mere unavailability.

Two distinct triggering events, both defined precisely. Death is self-explanatory; “incapacity” under sub-section (2) is narrower than it might sound — specifically unsoundness of mind or infirmity of body that prevents the Data Principal exercising their own rights, not simply being unavailable or difficult to reach.

The nominee steps into the original Data Principal's rights, not a fresh, independent role. The nominated individual exercises her rights — access, correction, erasure, grievance redressal, and so on — on the original Data Principal's behalf, rather than acquiring some new category of right of their own.

The nomination mechanics are left to the Rules. “In the prescribed manner” means the actual process — how a nomination is made, recorded, verified, and later relied upon by a Fiduciary — is set out in the DPDP Rules rather than in the Act itself.

Why this section matters

Personal data can outlive the person it belongs to in practically meaningful ways — financial accounts, health records, personal correspondence, social media. Without a nomination mechanism, exercising rights over a deceased or incapacitated person's data can become legally uncertain for family members. Section 14 gives Data Principals a way to plan for this in advance, similar in spirit to a nominee for a bank account or insurance policy.

Real-world example

Who needs to care about this section

• Financial services, healthcare and other long-relationship Data Fiduciaries — most likely to need a working nomination-recording and verification process.
• Estate-planning and family-office advisors — this right is a relevant, India-specific consideration alongside more traditional succession planning.
• Individuals with dependants or family members likely to need to act on their behalf — this is the mechanism the Act provides for exactly that situation.

Common questions

Related sections