Concept
Digital personal data is personal data in digital form. It is the precise subject the DPDP Act regulates.
"digital personal data" means personal data in digital form.
The Act does not govern all personal data, only the digital kind. That means data collected digitally, or collected on paper and then digitised.
This is why the scope test has two limbs: the information must be personal data, and it must be in digital form for the Act's obligations to bite.
A signed paper form in a drawer is not digital personal data. The moment its contents are typed into a system, it becomes digital personal data.
See how this term differs from the ones people most often confuse it with.
Personal Data vs Digital Personal Data →What makes data 'digital'?
It is in digital form, or was collected on paper and digitised afterwards. Both are covered.
Does digitising old records bring them into scope?
Yes. Non-digital data that is digitised subsequently is covered by the Act.