Under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, 'PROCESSING' of personal data is defined to include:

Section 2(13) of the DPDP Act, 2023 defines 'processing' comprehensively to mean a wholly or partly automated operation or set of operations performed on digital personal data, including COLLECTION, recording, organisation, structuring, storage, adaptation, alteration, retrieval, use, alignment, combination, indexing, sharing, disclosure by transmission, dissemination, restriction, erasure or destruction. The breadth ensures that the Act covers every stage of the data life-cycle, not merely storage or onward sale. This definitional breadth is why the Act's obligations attach at the earliest collection step. 'Personal data' (Section 2(9)) is data about an individual who is identifiable.