Privacy built into Aadhaar Act, says UIDAI :

Privacy built into Aadhaar Act, says UIDAI :

Context :

• “Privacy is non-negotiable, confidentiality is non-negotiable under the Aadhaar Act”, the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), the nodal agency implementing the Aadhaar scheme, has said in the Supreme Court.

Introduction :

• Right to privacy is not absolute and cannot prevent the state from making laws imposing reasonable restrictions on citizens, the Supreme Court observed recently.
• A day after conceding that right to privacy was a fundamental right, the government on Thursday asserted before the Supreme Court that privacy and confidentiality were non-negotiable under the Aadhaar Act.
• The assertion came after Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta after a nine-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India J.S.Khehar expressed concern over the data collected by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) for Aadhaar.
• The court was, responding to a submission by Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, that citizens not claim informational privacy when the state asks for data for a legitimate purpose such as Aadhaar.

The court’s decision :

• The court said ‘right to privacy’ is in fact too ‘amorphous’ a term.
• To recognize privacy as a definite right, it has to first define it.
• Defining privacy would be nearly impossible as an element of privacy infiltrates all the fundamental rights treasured in the Constitution.
• The court identified that an attempt to define the right to privacy may cause more harm than good.
• An exhaustive labeling by the court of what all constitutes privacy may limit the right itself.

Fundamental right :

• Justice S.A.Bobde wondered whether the Aadhaar Act of 2016 itself had any provisions to protect privacy. Mr. Venugopal then pointed to Section 28 of the statute dealing with “security and confidentiality of information”. It was in the State’s legitimate interest to keep personal data secure as this would make Aadhaar acceptable to one and all.” Justice Chandrachud said informational privacy was the most “vexed” portion of the ongoing debate as part of personal data was already in the public domain.

Article 21 :

• Article 21 of the Constitution of India states that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”.
• Article 21 interprets that the term ‘life’ includes all those aspects of life which go to make a man’s life meaningful, complete and worth living.

Right to Privacy: Constitution :

• The Constitution of India does not specifically guarantee a “right to privacy”.
• However, through various judgments over the years, Indian courts have interpreted the other rights in the Constitution as giving rise to a (limited) right to privacy primarily through Article 21, the right to life and liberty.

What is needed to be done in context of Right to Privacy and Aadhaar? :

• In view of the increased security required specifically for territorial privacy and data privacy, there should be a provision added to the Constitution of India.
• A provision that deals with multiple dimensions of privacy such as personal, territorial, communication and data/information.
• Such a provision would bring clarity as to the extent of the right to privacy.
• There is a dire need for a comprehensive privacy legislation which would ensure the protection of personal and sensitive data of people.
• There is also the need for an established regulatory body.
• This could be structured along similar lines as that of the data protection commissioner offices, which exist in Canada, Ireland, and other developed informational economies.