Shein Will Not Have Access To Indian Users' Data After Re-Entry: Government

Nitin Konde, Varun Bhardwaj

Dec 18, 2024 — 3 min read

Shein Assures No Access to Indian User Data Post Re-Entry

Chinese retailer Shein, which intends to re-enter India soon in collaboration with Reliance Retail, will not have access to the data gathered from Indian users, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal informed the Parliament. According to the agreement, the platform (Shein India) will always be housed on Indian infrastructure, and all platform data—both personal and non-personal—generated by the platform's operations, including all data gathered from Indian customers, will stay in India. "Shein will not have access to or control over this data," Goyal stated.

This implies that all data produced by the app and the future platform will be housed and kept in India. The minister noted that the license agreement between Reliance Retail and Shein requires the two parties to guarantee localisation of the infrastructure and platform data in response to a query from Congress MP Sasikanth Senthil. The minister added that "any" government-appointed cybersecurity auditor may conduct the security examination of Reliance Retail's infrastructure and that the company has also been "advised" to guarantee adherence to local regulations.

Re-Entering Indian Market After 4 Years

Shein's return to India occurs over four years after the platform was "banned" in 2020 due to concerns raised by the Centre that Shein's parent business was sending or storing Indian users' data to China. Goyal clarified this on 17 December, stating that although the sale of "branded products" from the Chinese online fashion retailer was never prohibited, Shein's app was stopped on June 29, 2020. According to him, Shein's Singapore-based company, Roadget Business Pte Ltd, has signed a technology agreement with Reliance Retail Ventures Limited's (RRVL) subsidiary Reliance Retail Limited (RRL) to create an Indian e-commerce retail platform. In 2023, the contract was signed. The textile ministry then conferred with the electronics and IT ministry (MeitY) on the issue, Goyal said in the Lok Sabha. Following the home ministry's permission, MeitY expressed no opposition to RRVL's plan to repatriate Shein.

Promoting Indigenisation

According to Goyal, this indigenous platform would establish a network of regional suppliers and manufacturers that would produce goods under the Shein brand and market them both domestically and internationally. "It is anticipated that this will contribute to the expansion of the Indian textile manufacturing industry, encompassing regional handicrafts, and generate substantial job opportunities," Goyal continued. Reliance Retail, which now only receives a licence fee as a portion of earnings made within India, will now offer the Chinese retailer's products on its apps and in physical locations. However, all data and the app itself will be housed and stored in India, and operations will be fully run by a Reliance Retail subsidiary. Nevertheless, it is unclear if Shein would be able to re-enter the Indian market and achieve the same level of success as during its initial presence there. In 2021, the Chinese company made a second attempt to enter India in collaboration with Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, but it was unsuccessful.