RIGHT TO PRIVACY

A right is something to which every individual in the community is morally

permitted, and for which that community is entitled to disrespect or
compulsorily remove anything that stands in the way of even a single individual
getting it.

The right to privacy is an element of various legal traditions to

restrain government and private actions that threaten the privacy of individuals.
Over 150 national constitutions mention the right to privacy.
PHILOSOPHY OF RIGHT TO PRIVACY
• In the United States, an article in the December 15, 1890 issue of the Harvard Law
Review, written by attorney Samuel D. Warren and future U.S. Supreme Court
Justice, Louis Brandeis, entitled "The Right to Privacy", is often cited as the first
implicit declaration of a U.S. right to privacy.
• privacy is the "right to be let alone", and focused on protecting individuals.
• This approach was a response to recent technological developments of the time,
such as photography, and sensationalist journalism, also known as "yellow
journalism“
• Finally they come to conclusion that object of privacy is to protect ‘inviolate
personality’.
• A right to privacy is explicitly stated under Article 12 of the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights:
• No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or
correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honor and reputation. Everyone has the
right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.
 RIGHT TO PRIVACY : THE WORLD
• USA : The right to privacy is not mentioned in the US Constitution, the
Supreme Court has interpreted several amendments to say that the right does
exist.
• Japan: Japan adopted a system of citizen identification which united personal
tax information, social security and disaster relief benefits.
• Europe: Europe generally is governed by the Data Protection Directive which
restricts how information can be processed and used.
• Sweden: Sweden was the first country in the world to give each citizen a
personal identification number which must be used in essentially every
interaction with the State
HISTORY OF RIGHT OF PRIVACY IN INDIA
• The earliest recordings of 'right to privacy' in Indian jurisprudence were in the late
1800s when a local British court upheld privacy of a ‘pardanashin’ woman to access
her balcony without the fear of the neighbourhood gaze.
• The jurisprudence has evolved ever since and the right to privacy was read into
‘Article 21’ of our Constitution by the Supreme Court as an integral part of
‘personal liberty’.
• Like most freedom, we took it for granted, until last year our government told us
that privacy is not a fundamental right after all.
 Constitutional history

• That privacy is not a fundamental right was first told to us by the Supreme
Court in the year 1954.
• M.P. Sharma v. Satish Chandra case
• Kharak Singh v. State of Uttar Pradesh
• Gobind v. State of Madhya Pradesh
Before and During verdict :-
After Verdict
567 PAGE JUDGEMENT
9 JUDGE BENCH
1 VERDICT
PRIVACY is a constitutionally protected right
which emerges primarily from :

1. Guarantee of life and personal liberty in article

21 of constitution.
2. Varying context from the other facets of
freedom and dignity recognised by the
fundamental rights contained in Part III.
What Supreme Court
said
S.A. Bobde : “If a man has to die with dignity, he has to have some
privacy”

Rohinton Nariman : “Don’t forget the little man’s right to privacy. It has
duty of court, not the legislature to interpret the law”

Justice D.Y. Chandrachud : “Essence of human life is when I want to

choose solitude, I can choose it. Centre is wrong to say that privacy is
an elitist construct”

J.S. Khehar : “If what you have been asked to disclose bothers you,
then it infringes your right to privacy”
• Launch
• DBT
• Compulsion
• Leakage of personal information
• Concern
• The ‘PAN’ effect
 SECTION 377
• Unnatural offences: Whoever
voluntarily has carnal
intercourse against the order of
nature with any man, woman or
animal shall be punished with
imprisonment for life, or with
imprisonment of either
description for term which may
extend to ten years, and shall
also be liable to fine.
 377 to be scrapped?

• Pointing towards the need to revisit section 377

Justice Chandrachud said, "Sexual orientation is
an essential attribute of privacy. Discrimination
against an individual on the basis of sexual
orientation is deeply offensive to the dignity and
self-worth of the individual.”
• Central Cattle slaughter ban
• Lynchings
 Right to abortion

• The legality argument is impractical because the

law is clear. In India, under the MTP Act, abortion
is a qualified right. An abortion can’t be
performed based solely on a woman’s request.
And it can only be performed by a registered
medical practitioner before 12 weeks of
pregnancy. In case the woman had been
pregnant for more than 12 weeks – but for less
than 20 weeks – the opinions of two medical
practitioners are required.
• Section 66a of the IT act: The section which
penalised people for posting 'offensive' content on
social media, had been struck down by the
Supreme Court in 2015 and declared
unconstitutional, however, with to Right to Privacy
verdict, an individual breaching privacy by on
social networking sites could be held accountable.
 CONCERNS
• GST
• Marital rape
• National Anthem
Privacy and Technology
• Technology directly affects the contours
of Privacy.
• Dataveillance by platforms such as Goole
and Facebook shape our understanding
and affect our choices.
• New media manipulates the decision
making process, the core sphere that
privacy seeks to protect.
 Under the scanner!
• Encryption??
The verdict ensures that everyone is born, dies
with this right!