Consent is the foundation the DPDP Act rests on, and AI is testing it in ways the drafters did not anticipate. What valid consent requires, what withdrawal really means, and how it plays out for minors, patients, clients and employees.

India's data protection law came into force in November 2025 with a regulator that did not yet exist, and an unresolved question at its centre: what does the right to erasure mean once an AI model has already learned from you?

India has recently joined the club of nations enacting comprehensive data privacy legislation. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act,...