Several activists have welcomed the unanimous judgment delivered by the Supreme Court’s larger Constitution Bench that right to privacy was ‘intrinsic to life and liberty’ and inherently protected under various fundamental freedoms enshrined under Part III of the Indian Constitution.
“The judgment is the first step. But we need to wait for the details and watch who will codify the Right to Privacy,” said a well-known RTI activist, D. Rakesh Reddy.
The case the Bench was dealing with was limited to whether the right to privacy was a fundamental right under the Constitution and the court ruled it was. But there should be a fine balance between disclosure and secrecy to ensure that data sharing would not lead to profiling of people.
The judgment is also expected to have its ramifications on the Aadhaar scheme as it has collected the personal details and biometrics of all the citizens.
Mr. Rakesh Reddy said the issue was not about divulging a simple Aadhaar number. In this age of big data and information sharing, one could not hold against data sharing. But the concern was whether the government or private companies that collected the personal data could ensure that such details would not come into public domain.
There is a concern that the government could refuse to share information under the RTI citing it was private information. But Section 8 of the RTI has its own checks and balances that unless the personal information sought was of any relevance to public, it need not be disclosed. Padmanabha Reddy of Forum for Good Governance said the difference between the common privacy law and the fundamental right to privacy was a grey area for now. He, however, felt though right to privacy and personal liberty was guaranteed by the Constitution, national interest would always take precedence.
The Aadhaar scheme was in the interest of the nation and it would provide better control for the government to ensure that the benefits reached the target groups. Even in the West where people value their privacy, the social security number, a unique number, has been accepted by them. So long as the government kept the data collected under Aadhaar confidential, the right to privacy should not adversely impact the Aadhaar scheme which was before the five-judge Bench, he said.
Former Information Commissioner Dileep, welcoming the Supreme Court judgment, said with the right to privacy recognised as a fundamental right, an individual would have some immunity from the government’s control. But while framing the rules for right to privacy, the government should ensure it would not go against the spirit of the Constitution, he said.
He, however, was of the view that the Apex Court judgment upholding the right to privacy as a fundamental right would undermine the Aadhaar scheme, unless the government ensures that the data collected would be zealously protected.