The grace period is over. With the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Rules 2025 now fully notified, the "wait and watch" era for Indian businesses has ended.
For years, we treated email as a casual communication tool. We sent spreadsheets of customer data to vendors, emailed Aadhaar cards to HR for onboarding, and shared unencrypted financial records with chartered accountants.
Under the new DPDP Ac, these "casual" habits are no longer just bad practice, they are potential ₹250 Crore liabilities.
As a Data Fiduciary (that's you, the business owner), you are now legally responsible for every scrap of personal data that enters or leaves your organization. And the leakest vessel in your ship? It’s not your database. It’s your email.
Why Email is the DPDP Nightmare
Most businesses focus their compliance efforts on structured databases (SQL, CRM). They encrypt the server and think they are safe.
But unstructured data is where the real risk lies.
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The CV Problem: A candidate emails a resume containing their phone number, address, and photo. This is "Personal Data."
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The Vendor Problem: You email a customer list to a marketing agency. You just performed "Data Processing" without explicit consent for that specific transfer.
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The Retention Problem: The Act mandates deleting data when the purpose is served. But that resume from 2019 is still sitting in your HR manager's Sent Items folder.
According to the DPDP Act, if that email account is breached, you pay the fine, not the email provider.
Which is best for you? - API Bases Email Security vs SEG
What Happens If You Ignore This?
The stakes in today’s world are mathematically higher than ever before.
1. The Financial Blow (Up to ₹250 Cr)
Unlike previous laws where fines were small slaps on the wrist, the Data Protection Board (DPB) can levy penalties up to ₹250 Crore for failure to take "reasonable security safeguards."
Note: You don't need to be Google to be fined. If your negligence leads to a data leak, the penalty is proportionate to the lack of safeguards, not just your revenue.
2. The "Data Principal" Rights
Your customers (Data Principals) now have the power to ask: "Show me every email where my data is stored." or "Delete my data immediately." If your data is scattered across thousands of employee inboxes, how will you find it? How will you prove you deleted it?
3. Breach Notification Panic
Under the new rules (and overlapping CERT-In mandates), you have a razor-thin window to report a breach. If an employee's email is compromised and data is stolen, failing to report it to the Board and the affected users triggers a separate penalty of up to ₹200 Crore.
The 3-Step Strategy to Secure Your Inbox
Compliance isn't about buying a tool; it's about following a process. Here is the framework you need to adopt.
Step 1: Map Your "Dark Data"
You cannot protect what you cannot see. You need to audit where data lives.
Ingress: Where does personal data enter? (e.g., careers@company.com, support@company.com).
Storage: Where does it sit? (e.g., Employee inboxes, Archived PST files, Local downloads).
Egress: Where does it go? (e.g., Forwarded to personal Gmails, Sent to third-party vendors).
Pro Tip: Start by auditing your "catch-all" accounts like HR and Finance. These are goldmines for hackers and compliance nightmares for you.
Step 2: Lock the Exits (DLP)
Once you know where the data is, you must stop it from leaving unauthorized. This means implementing Data Loss Prevention (DLP) rules. You need controls that say: "If an email contains a credit card number or Aadhaar number, it cannot be sent to an @gmail.com address." This prevents accidental leaks by employees, a requirement for "reasonable safeguards."
Step 3: Enforce "Right to Delete" (Governance)
The DPDP Act grants users the right to erasure. You need a mechanism to find and delete specific emails.
If a customer cancels their service, you must ensure their data is removed not just from your database, but also from the Sent Items of the account manager who emailed them three years ago.
How MailArmor Solves the Compliance Puzzle
This is where technology replaces manual worry. MailArmor doesn't just block viruses; it acts as your automated Compliance Officer for email.
1. Automated Redaction (DLP)
MailArmor scans outgoing emails for sensitive patterns (Aadhaar numbers, PAN cards, Credit Card info).
The Fix: If an employee tries to email a customer list to a personal address, MailArmor blocks it automatically.
The Benefit: This proves "reasonable security safeguards" to the Data Protection Board.
2. The "Right to be Forgotten" Search
When a customer asks to be deleted, MailArmor’s eDiscovery tool can search across all company inboxes instantly to find every thread involving that customer, allowing you to comply with erasure requests in minutes, not weeks.
3. Consent Verification
MailArmor can tag external recipients. If you try to send data to a vendor who hasn't been flagged as a "Trusted Processor" in your system, the email is held for approval.
Your 7-Point DPDP Checklist
Don't let the legal jargon overwhelm you. Start with this practical checklist this week.
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Update Privacy Notice: Ensure your email footer and website clearly state what data you collect and why.
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Appoint a Consent Manager/DPO: Even if you are an SMB, someone must be responsible for answering data queries.
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Map Email Data Flows: Identify which departments handle PII (Personally Identifiable Information).
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Implement Email DLP: Turn on Data Loss Prevention rules to block unauthorized PII transfers.
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Enforce Retention Policies: Set auto-delete rules for old emails (e.g., "Delete CVs after 6 months").
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Vendor Audit: Check if the vendors you email data to (payroll, marketing) are also DPDP compliant.
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Breach Drill: Run a simulation. If an email is hacked today, do you know who to call within the mandatory reporting window?
Conclusion
The DPDP Act is not designed to kill business; it is designed to kill negligence.
In the eyes of the law, an email account is a data vault. If you leave the door open, you are liable for what gets stolen. The transition to compliance might seem daunting, but it starts with a single step: securing the primary channel where data lives.
Don't let a stray email bankup your business. Gain full visibility into your data flow and lock down your compliance gaps today.
Join our waitlist to get early free DPDP Email Risk Audit with MailArmor