By Munibar Barui
In global context, around 128 out of 194 countries had put in place legislation to secure the protection of data and privacy. In Indian context, even though the Puttaswamy Judgment talks for privacy as a fundamental right under Articles 14, 19 and 21, India for real, but it does not have a strict law or any specific provisions for the protection of an individual’s data.
In 2012, the then UPA government constituted the Justice A.P. Shah Committee. This committeeprovided initial guidelines on privacy related legislation. Therein this committee observed that India must statutorily establish a right to privacy to all individuals in India. The privacy legislation must regulate not only personal information processed within India, but also personal information that originated in India and which has subsequently been transferred outside India. Therefore, legislation mustcreate robust regulatory and enforcement mechanisms including privacy commission. This should be enforced by a three-tiered approach to dispute resolution: Ombudsman, privacy commissioners, courts.
In 2017, the current NDA government constituted the B.N.Srikrishna Committee. This committee proposed the necessity for a personal Data protection bill. The draft bill recognises the “right to privacy” as a fundamental right. To enforce such right, the draft has recommended setting up a Data Protection Authority to prevent misuse of personal information. The draft Bill also provides for setting up an Appellate Tribunal. However, the draft Bill for Personal Data Protection (PDP) is still a debated topic in the Parliament of India.
According to Global practices, The Russian Federation (erstwhile USSR) has separate legislations regarding Electronic Transactions and draft legislations for Consumer Protection as well as Privacy and Data Protection. The European Union also has General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which makes WhatsApp legally bound to not share data with Facebook in the European Region. Thus, to be in consonance with the Global practices, our country needs to implement the PDP bill. This bill will ensure some amount of user-privacy wherein the all apps (in Google Playstore and Apple Appstore) would agree to the nine privacy principles as mentioned in the AP Shah committee. Furthermore, the NIA has limited power to cyber-terrorism. So, in such cases, cross border Snooping can also be added to its mandate.
In conclusion, dedicated surveillance reforms are the need-of-the-hour as because privacy is the only thing that ensures that freedom of speech and expression survives. This is because once we are put under surveillance, we will start to stifle ourselves for fear of state action. In such fears, democratic ideals of Pluralism and diversity start to deteriorate in one’s mind. So, it is only an unfettered mind free from fear that can appreciate and revel all the values that are enshrined in ourconstitution i.e., Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. The author works as a reporter under the banner of Sattachintan. He is a writer, an avid aquarist, a tech-savvy individual with a will to do something in life.