An Indian healthtech company selling into US healthcare answers to two regimes at once: DPDP for its Indian users and HIPAA for its US buyers. Here is how they differ, where they overlap, and how to satisfy both without running two programs.
TL;DR
Indian healthtech selling to US buyers faces DPDP at home and HIPAA abroad. DPDP applies to personal data of people in India and demands explicit consent and data-principal rights; HIPAA applies to US health data and requires safeguards and signed BAAs with your US healthcare customers.
The two differ on consent, rights, and paperwork, but share the same security core: encryption, access control, and logging. Build to the stricter standard on the shared controls and layer each regime’s specifics on top, one program, two outputs.
On this page
The two-regime reality
If you build healthtech in India and sell into the US, you sit at the intersection of two data-protection regimes. India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Act governs the personal data of people in India, and it applies even to companies outside India that serve Indian users. HIPAA governs protected health information in US healthcare, and your US customers, covered entities, will require you to meet it and sign a business associate agreement. Neither replaces the other; you carry both.
What DPDP requires of you
For your Indian users, DPDP sets obligations that are, in some respects, stricter than HIPAA. It requires explicit, granular consent before processing personal data, gives data principals rights over their information, and mandates breach notification to the Data Protection Board. Penalties are significant, up to a substantial statutory maximum. Because DPDP has extraterritorial reach, offering services to people in India brings you into scope regardless of where you are based.
What your US buyers require
Your US healthcare customers are bound by HIPAA, and they extend that obligation to you contractually. In practice this means you will be treated as a business associate: you must implement HIPAA’s safeguards for the PHI you handle and sign a BAA with each covered-entity customer. For an Indian company, the ability to sign and genuinely meet a BAA is often what makes a US healthcare deal possible at all.
Where DPDP and HIPAA overlap
Here is the good news. However different their paperwork, both regimes rest on the same security foundation.
Encryption, access control, logging, and monitoring satisfy the technical heart of both DPDP and HIPAA. You build that security core once. On top of it, you add DPDP’s consent and data-principal rights for Indian users, and HIPAA’s BAAs and health-data duties for US customers. One program, two compliant outputs.
The cross-border data question
Moving data between India and the US raises a fair question. As things stand, DPDP takes a permissive approach to cross-border transfers, personal data may generally flow out of India unless the government specifically restricts a destination. That makes serving US buyers workable today, but the framework allows the government to introduce restrictions by notification. The practical takeaway: design your architecture so it does not depend on a single, fixed transfer direction, and watch for regulatory updates.
The lean-team path to dual compliance
Running DPDP and HIPAA as two separate programs would overwhelm any lean team. The efficient path is to build the shared security core once, evidence it once, and map it to both regimes, then layer each one’s specific requirements on top. Doing that across disconnected tools is exactly where dual compliance breaks down.
Satisfy India and the US from one platform.
Osto is the one-stop cybersecurity and compliance platform built for fast-moving startups. Build the shared security core once and map it to both DPDP and HIPAA, with one set of evidence. No security team required.
Frequently asked questions
Does an Indian healthtech company need both DPDP and HIPAA?
If it serves people in India and sells to US healthcare customers, yes. DPDP applies to the personal data of individuals in India, and US covered-entity customers will require HIPAA compliance and a signed BAA. The two apply together.
How do DPDP and HIPAA differ?
DPDP covers all personal data of people in India and generally requires explicit opt-in consent plus data-principal rights. HIPAA covers US health data, permits certain uses like treatment without separate authorisation, and requires safeguards and BAAs. They differ most on consent and scope.
Which standard should I build to?
The stricter one on each shared control. DPDP’s explicit-consent requirement is generally higher than HIPAA’s, so building to it clears HIPAA too. A single strong security core plus the stricter of each requirement is the efficient approach.
Can I transfer health data from India to the US?
As things stand, DPDP permits cross-border transfers by default unless the government restricts a specific destination, so serving US buyers is workable. However, the government can introduce restrictions by notification, so design your architecture to adapt rather than depend on one fixed transfer direction.
Do US customers require a BAA from an Indian vendor?
Yes. US covered entities must sign business associate agreements with vendors handling PHI, regardless of where the vendor is based. Being able to sign and genuinely meet a BAA is often what makes a US healthcare deal possible for an Indian company.
Can one platform handle both DPDP and HIPAA?
Yes. Because both rest on the same security core, encryption, access control, and logging, you can build and evidence those controls once and map them to both regimes, then layer each one’s specific consent, rights, and BAA requirements on top.