Thread by @SFLCin

#PrivacyDay2022
The Right to Privacy was recognised as a Fundamental Right guaranteed under our Constitution on this day, five years ago by the Supreme Court of India when it delivered the landmark judgment - 'Retd. Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India'

#PrivacyMatters

The Honorable Supreme Court of India held the #RightToPrivacy to be an essential part of liberty protected under Article 21, and freedom of speech and expression under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution.

#PrivacyDay2022 #PrivacyMatters #FundamentalRights #India #Democracy

Justice Chandrachud’s opinion in the #Puttaswamy judgement encapsulates the essence of #Privacy -

#PrivacyMatters #PrivacyDay2022 #RightToPrivacy #FundamentalRights #Constitution

This #PrivacyDay, let us take a look at the important recent developments in the area of #Privacy in India.

#PrivacyDay2022 #RightToPrivacy #Constitution #DigitalRights

#Pegasus

The Indian Judiciary took another step towards the protection of #Privacy with the order issued in the Pegasus issue.

@SFLCin, represented by Colin Gonsalves was also part of this litigation.

#Surveillance #PrivacyDay2022 #PrivacyMatters

sflc.in/sflcin-approac…

#Pegasus

The court observed that #Privacy cannot be encroached upon by the state in an arbitrary manner and has to withstand the test of permissible restriction on fundamental rights. The court also observed the debate regarding the trade-off b/w security and privacy.

#DataProtection

Even after 5 yrs of the SC directing the Government to bring in place a law protecting & regulating informational privacy, no law has been enacted.
In August 2022, the government withdrew the #PersonalDataProtectionBill after it was under deliberation for 4 yrs

#DataProtection

The bill was a culmination of the BN Sri Krishna Committee Report of 2018 and was laid before the Parliament on 11 December 2019. It was referred to the JPC on the same day and the report of this committee was presented before the Parliament in December 2021

Read @SFLCin's comments on -
1. Sri Krishna Committee report here: sflc.in/faq-joint-parl…

2. The JPC Report here: sflc.in/summary-jpc-re…

#PrivacyDay2022 #PrivacyMatters

#SearchAndSeizure

While there exists no tangible legal framework to protect the #Privacy of individuals, the police have time and again conducted arbitrary and indiscriminate search and seizure of mobile electronic devices.

#PrivacyMatters #FundamentalRights #Privacyday2022

#SearchAndSeizure

Such an invasion of #privacy by state has become a concerning issue and has affected journalists, academics and activists and ordinary citizens. Recently, a petition was filed before the SC by a group of Academics to lay down guidelines on search and seizure.

#Aadhaar #VoterIdwithAadhaar

The Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 passed on December 29 2021 provides for linking of Aadhaar Cards with voter IDs. With this, all the information contained in the Aadhaar including biometric information could be linked to the voter ID as well.

#Aadhaar #VoterIdwithAadhaar

On June 17 2022, the Government laid down the Registration of Electors (Amendment) Rules, 2022 which prescribe the procedure for the linking. Although its not mandatory, it's still beyond the scope limited by the SC in the Puttaswamy II judgment.

#CERTin #CERTinDirections #VPN

On April 28, 2022, @IndianCERT issued directions for various stakeholders that require VPNs to register information regarding names of subscribers, IPs, email and purpose for hiring services etc., for a period of 5 years.

#PrivacyDay2022

#CERTin #CERTinDirections #VPN

The direction seeks to gather and store user data and is a restriction on right to privacy.However, the directions fail the proportionality test of #RightToPrivacy

#PrivacyMatters #PrivacyDay2022

sflc.in/sflcins-commen…

#CriminalProcedureAct

The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 was passed by the Parliament on April 18, 2022. The Act contains several concerning provisions that prima facie fall foul of the fundamental rights enshrined in Part-III of the Constitution of India.

#CriminalProcedureAct

Section 3 of the Act gives police wide powers to take the measurements of any person convicted of or arrested in connection with, an offence under the law. This violates the #RightToPrivacy held to be inherent under Article 21, as held in #Puttaswamy.

We at @SFLCin have been working to safeguard the #Privacy of Indian citizens, since 2010.
To help us continue fighting for your digital freedom, support us by making a donation at sflc.in/donate

#PrivacyDay2022 #PrivacyMatters #DigitalRights