NEW DELHI: The law ministry is working on a proposal to make right to privacy a fundamental right in the Indian Constitution.
Corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's phone tapping row and new-age surveillance techniques being extensively used to crack down on economic offences are the trigger behind the move.
"We are working on making right to privacy a fundamental right. It is likely to be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament. However, it's difficult to commit the timeframe," law minister Veerappa Moily said.
The right to privacy would include the right to confidentiality of communication, confidentiality of private or family life, protection of his honour and good name, protection from search, detention or exposure of lawful communication between individuals, privacy from surveillance, confidentiality of banking, financial, medical and legal information, protection from identity theft of various kinds, protection of use of a person's photographs, fingerprints, DNA samples and other samples taken at police stations and other places and protection of data relating to individual.
"Many of these are already observed at a practical level. For example, it's a part of professional ethics of a lawyer or a doctor not to reveal details about clients or patients. The same applies for the banking sector. Apart from strengthening norms for interception of communication, the proposed Act will guarantee an individual's right to privacy. It's similar in the way the Constitution guarantees existing fundamental rights like right to equality, right to freedom of expression etc," explained a senior law ministry official.
The fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution include right to equality, right to freedom of speech and expression, right to property, right to education, right to conserving own culture, language and script, right to religion and right against exploitation.
If the legislation is passed, it would address several concerns expressed by some sections of the civil society. For instance, there has been outrage over the `compromise' of an individual's privacy in a project like UID, where all personal data will be available at the click of a mouse.
Corporate lobbyist Niira Radia's phone tapping row and new-age surveillance techniques being extensively used to crack down on economic offences are the trigger behind the move.
"We are working on making right to privacy a fundamental right. It is likely to be tabled in the monsoon session of Parliament. However, it's difficult to commit the timeframe," law minister Veerappa Moily said.
The right to privacy would include the right to confidentiality of communication, confidentiality of private or family life, protection of his honour and good name, protection from search, detention or exposure of lawful communication between individuals, privacy from surveillance, confidentiality of banking, financial, medical and legal information, protection from identity theft of various kinds, protection of use of a person's photographs, fingerprints, DNA samples and other samples taken at police stations and other places and protection of data relating to individual.
"Many of these are already observed at a practical level. For example, it's a part of professional ethics of a lawyer or a doctor not to reveal details about clients or patients. The same applies for the banking sector. Apart from strengthening norms for interception of communication, the proposed Act will guarantee an individual's right to privacy. It's similar in the way the Constitution guarantees existing fundamental rights like right to equality, right to freedom of expression etc," explained a senior law ministry official.
The fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution include right to equality, right to freedom of speech and expression, right to property, right to education, right to conserving own culture, language and script, right to religion and right against exploitation.
If the legislation is passed, it would address several concerns expressed by some sections of the civil society. For instance, there has been outrage over the `compromise' of an individual's privacy in a project like UID, where all personal data will be available at the click of a mouse.
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