Right to privacy - A discussion on the 7th fundamental right.

Hello readers

Hope you all are fine.

People should not be afraid of Government, Government should be afraid of people.

-Alan Moore

Hmmm, it's raining here as I am drafting this blog feels pleasant.

Well, the present government is definitely proactive when compared to the previous one and we all have reason to believe that.

Recently I heard news about the Supreme Court’s decision regarding the right to privacy, I think it was much needed and welcome the move.

Why is our right to privacy important? Let me ask you a simple question do you feel safe if some stranger knows your personal phone number your personal address and your bank account number! Definitely, it is unsafe.

Right to privacy is something which will protect you in many ways, I was reading an article written in the first post by Sri. Rajeev Chandrasekhar on firstpost.com I have listed some takeaways which will help us get some awareness about the right to privacy as a fundamental right.

1.     There are several implications of this judgment but mark my words, the full impact of this will be seen and felt over the coming years as the relationship between citizens and the state, citizens and big corporates gets redefined and recalibrated to realise the vision of being not just the world's largest democracy but also the most advanced democracy

2.     Central to implementing this vision is the idea of a digital India. In an interconnected world where technology governs virtually all aspects of our lives, Thursday's judgment embeds consumer rights within the Constitution. This verdict effectively creates for the first time, obligations and responsibilities for all entities, government or private, that deal with the information of Indian citizens.

3.     This verdict has put to rest the issue of privacy is a fundamental right and it goes way beyond Aadhaar. The main issue was the seven-decade-old culture in our bureaucracy where citizens had no protective rights against the State.

4.     This ruling will deter unethical practices by corporates such as stealing biometric details from Aadhaar card to illegally procure multiple SIM cards or sharing of information without any authorisation. With the intrusion of technology, the telecom companies, e-commerce companies and other private service providers are duty bound to safeguard the data of citizens or face legal action by the empowered consumers.

5.     Similarly, for making Aadhaar mandatory for targeting beneficiaries, the UIDAI will have to make necessary legal modifications so that it does not violate the privacy of citizens. We already know that Aadhaar of the NDA govt shares very little with the Aadhaar of the UPA. The NDA Aadhaar has legislative backing, its verification process is far stricter and numerous fake accounts enrolled during the UPA regime are being removed.

I also read an article written by Sri. Gopal Sankaranarayanan in times of India he is an advocate in the supreme court of India, he describes this judgement as one of the remarkable ones in the history of the supreme court.

Sri. Gopal Sankaranarayanan argued on behalf of the Government of India in this case.

So, all in all, Let us all welcome the 7^th fundamental right.

This law will also help us in not giving away our personal data to mega analytics tycoons who convert our buying patterns and preferences into "meta data" and sell it to E-commerce giants.

Thanks for your time, until next time bye.