India’s shield of privacy should reflect Article 21

Source: The post is based on the article “India’s shield of privacy should reflect Article 21” published in Live Mint on 7^th July 2023.

Syllabus: GS 2 – Government Policies and Interventions for Development in various sectors and Issues arising out of their Design and Implementation.

Relevance: About new Digital Personal Data Protection Bill and associated concerns.

News: The monsoon session of the Parliament is likely to take up the new Digital Personal Data Protection Bill.

About the New Digital Personal Data Protection Bill

Read Here: New Digital Personal Data Protection Bill in Monsoon Session and Cabinet gives nod to Data Protection Bill

What are the concerns with the New Digital Personal Data Protection Bill?

There are concerns over privacy due to the “deemed consent” clause in the Bill. The clause has been designed for emergency data access, however, there are also threats of the clause being misused by the authorities.

This is evident from the fact when the government attempted to break chat encryption for the sake of public security, raising suspicions over the privacy and potential of misuse by the government.

Hence, it is crucial to address the flaws in the bill to align it with its original purpose as defined by the judiciary. Else, privacy as a fundamental right would be weakened.

Read More: Draft Digital Personal Data Protection Bill, 2022: Benefits and Concerns – Explained

How can privacy as a fundamental right can be effectively implemented?

A Supreme Court ruling in 2017 recognized privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21 (Right to Life and Personal Liberty) of the Indian Constitution.

However, basic rights hold value only if they are upheld against all forces, including the state. This also requires unbiased judicial procedures.

Therefore, privacy, as a key aspect of liberty, can be protected when no one is arbitrary arrested and unnecessary spying on individual also comes to an end.

Moreover, given the increasing digital realm, it is also crucial that individuals should be owner of their data by law.

They should be given rights to decide over sharing their data, and only necessary information should be made available to the state.

Further, given the alleged use of spyware like Pegasus, clear limits on intrusion by state agencies are also essential. Properly issued e-search permits may serve the purpose.