A designated senior official responsible for overseeing an organisation's DPDPA compliance and rights management.
A Data Protection Officer is a designated individual responsible for overseeing a Data Fiduciary's compliance with DPDPA. Under Section 10(2), Significant Data Fiduciaries must appoint a DPO who is based in India and serves as the point of contact for the Data Protection Board. The DPO advises on compliance, monitors processing activities, facilitates rights requests, liaises with the Board, and conducts internal audits. Rule 9 requires their contact details to be publicly available.
Even if you are not yet a Significant Data Fiduciary, designating a DPO demonstrates accountability and ensures someone owns compliance. As you scale, DPO appointment becomes mandatory — building the function early prevents scrambling later.
A growing Bengaluru SaaS company with 500K users appoints their Head of Legal as DPO. The DPO's name and email are published on the company website, they review all new features for privacy impact, and they serve as the Board's primary contact during any inquiry.
The DPO need not be a full-time privacy professional. In smaller organisations, an existing senior executive can serve as DPO — but they must have genuine authority and independence to flag compliance concerns.
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