The upper house of the Indian parliament has granted its approval to the long-delayed legislation, which will give the government greater control over how Big Tech companies process user data. 

The Digital Personal Data Protection Bill allows companies to transfer some user data abroad and imposes penalties on companies for breaches in data security. The law will also allow the government to seek information from firms and issue directions to block content on the advice of a data protection board appointed by the federal government.

Under the new rules, firms will also be banned from processing personal data that could negatively impact a child’s wellbeing. In addition, the law will require parental consent for processing the personal data of children and force companies to delete user data once it has fulfilled its original business intent.

The vote faced no resistance from the opposition, which opted not to participate. The legislation has, however...