Privacy: A Luxury Good

Author: Niharika Sinha, Student, Army Law College, Savitribai Phule Pune University, India

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Abstract

The continuous evolution brings with it new technology, often pervasive in nature. With the increase in internet and social media use, the access large internet-based corporations have to us is massive and also largely unregulated. The past decade has seen several privacy violations occur through the digital sphere and our laws are not equipped with the verbal terminology to protect us adequately from it. The definition of privacy has grown over the years and our laws also need to grow and adapt to be better suited to this digital age. This paper examines the Indian scenario vis-a-vis the relation between technology and privacy, the laws addressing it: its scope and limitations, landmark judgements in this regard, incidences of significance to the aforementioned issue and the government response. We are not only vulnerable to corporations but the government too, with multiple incidents of violations in our privacy by governmental organisations going unpunished. This paper further examines the loopholes in the present IT Act 2000, allowing such trespasses and the ways it can be fixed. It also brings to light the questionable introduction of Aadhar and Aarogya Setu as the world’s largest government surveillance instrument. It even connects the issue of cyber security issues as an important aspect of human rights violations with the Citizenship Amendment Act 2019. The government has made an effort to rectify these concerns with the new Data Protection Bill 2019, but it still leaves gaping holes in its armour for government intrusions. This paper aims at bringing notice to these issues and help spread awareness about them to prevent India turning into a surveillance state.

Keywords: Right to Privacy, Technology, Aadhar Card, Aarogya Setu app.

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