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RIGHT TO PRIVACY
So there is no procedure established by Law to intrude with one’s private space unless if it
is done for spying, surveillance purposes etc.
The Protection of privacy and data can be read from various Laws pertaining to Information
Technology, Intellectual property, Crimes (Cyber) and contractual obligations.
(a) Information Technology Act 2000
(b) Indian Penal Code 1890
(c) IR Laws
(d) CICRA, 2005
The object is to study relative connection of Privacy breach and its effect over its victim.
By taking the example of Facebook, the point of privacy issues can be made clearer. This
particular site encourages users to start an account by providing authentic details.
Moreover, the default settings of the site allow friends, friends of friends and almost all
users (including the unknown ones) present in the site to have access to the basic
information provided by a particular user. The alteration of the privacy settings offered by
the site has to be done on individual basis like whom to add as a friend or with whom the
information has to be disclosed. Usually, when young users make online profiles, they do
not bother about the privacy and post as much as personal and sensitive information as
possible. So, here the question comes, is the young brigade of social media users aware of
such privacy settings and if yes then how much of it is being implemented by them? Further,
do they realize the gravity of such privacy issues that might create trouble for them?
Identity theft, pestering, online victimization, etc. are some of the common consequences
coming up as a result of posting personal information without checking the privacy settings.
It has kind of become a common tendency among the youngsters of posting as many
pictures as possible to gain attention from peer groups. Updating relationship status or
posting self-portrait images is considered a trend.
India’s has no specific legislation focusing on data protection. A few principles of data
protection are scattered through IT Act, Guidelines issued by RBI, TRAI etc. One of the
most important piece of legislation protecting our data at present is the Information
Technology Act (IT Act). The IT Act makes hacking and tampering with computer source an
offence and penalizes unlawful access to data.
The data protection law should be equally applicable on public and the private sector.
Today, personal information is not only being held by the Government. It is increasingly
being held by private players such telecom companies, banks etc. This law should be
applicable to natural persons irrespective of their nationality and residence.
However, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has appointed an expert
group headed by former Supreme Court Judge BN Srikrishna to draft a data protection Law.
The decision to constitute the group was communicated by the UIDAI to Supreme Court as
part of its arguments in the Right to Privacy case.
Under The IT Act, 2000, Section 66-A is applicable and Section 500, 506 & 507 of Indian
Penal Code, 1860 are applicable. The accused may be punished for a term which may
extend to three years and with fine. As per Section 77-B of IT Act, 2000[2] the offence shall
be cognizable and bailable while if section 500 of IPC[3] is applied for the said offence
under the case of public servant is non-cognizable, bailable, compoundable with permission
of the Court.
In decisions of Kharak Singh V. State of Uttar Pradesh and M.P.Sharma V. Sathish
Chandra it was decided that privacy doesn’t prevail under context of fundamental rights. It
was overruled in the recent judgment on privacy by Apex Court.
In Justice K.S. Puttuswamy (Retd.) & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors. (2015)3. The Unique
Identity Scheme was discussed along with right to privacy. The question before the court
was whether such a right is guaranteed under the Constitution. The attorney general of
Indian argued that it privacy is not a fundamental right guaranteed to Indian citizens, then it
was overruled and provided right to privacy as a part of fundamental right.