160615134644

The term privacy seems to have
been derived from the Latin

word privatus, which means
isolated, restricted, personal or
peculiar.
- (Traupman, 1995)
www.prashantmali.com 2
It is the right of the individual to
determine when, how, and to
what extent there should be
disclosure of the information.
- (Westin, 1967)
 Privacy is control over information or
activities relating to oneself; Privacy can be
considered as a “derivative” right i.e. privacy
right is derived from other related rights;
 In India majority understand Privacy only in
context of Sex and Wealth. Sometimes with
password too
 Indian culture is more about sharing.
Everyone wants to know everything.
Decisions are typically taken by elders in the
family. Privacy is viewed more as a tort.
 The right of privacy in the light of constitution

restricting unauthorized searches and seizures;
and
 A viewpoint that privacy is not a basic

requirement of our society.
- (Ebenger, 2004)
Only the information owner makes the decision
about the disclosure of the information.
For instance, the privacy would deemed to be
compromised if an employee working in a
government tax office views the records of
someone else out of personal interest.
The Supreme Court in the case of R. Rajagopal v. State of Tamil Nadu , for the
first time directly linked the right to privacy to Article 21 of the Constitution
and laid down:
"The right to privacy is implicit in the right to life and

liberty guaranteed to the citizens of this country by
Article 21. It is a "right to be let alone". A citizen has
aright to safeguard the privacy of his own, his family,
marriage, procreation, motherhood, child bearing
and education among other matters. None can
publish anything concerning the above matters
without his consent whether truthful or otherwise
and whether laudatory or critical. If he does so, he
would be violating the right to privacy of the person
concerned and would be liable in an action for
damages.“
R. Rajagopal v. State of Tamil Nadu, cited at: 1994 SCC (6) 632.
 The Supreme Court in the case of Ram
Jethmalani v. Union of India categorically held
that the right to privacy also requires the
state not to make public any private
information about an individual, which would
violate her privacy.
Ram Jethmalani v. Union of India, cited at:

(2011) 8 SCC 1.
The Information Technology Act, 2000 have two
sections relating to Privacy:
 Section 43A, which deals with implementation

of reasonable security practices for sensitive personal
data or information and provides for the
compensation of the person affected by wrongful loss
or wrongful gain.
 Section 72A, which provides for imprisonment for a

period up to 3 years and/or a fine up to Rs. 5,00,000
for a person who causes wrongful loss or wrongful
gain by disclosing personal information of another
person while providing services under the terms of
lawful contract.
 The IT Act,2000 has provisions that permit
the interception, monitoring, and decryption
of digital communications. It provides for the
collection and monitoring of traffic data. It
allows the government to set the national
encryption standard.
 Projects like the Central Monitoring System,
NATGRID, Phone & Internet Interception used
by Police is making State surveillance at all
time high.
 Privacy Protection Bill, proposed
legislation for a privacy and personal
data protection regime in India.
 This law when passed would regulate
the collection and use of personal data
in India, as well as surveillance and
interception of communications.
 Citizens could not claim right to privacy as a
fundamental right is the Government’s
stand.
 Supreme Court would decide in due course
in the light of Article 21 whether it is a
fundamental right.
 Or The Supreme Court relies on eight-judge
bench decision which in1954 ruled that right
to privacy was not a fundamental right
 A Standing Committee on Information
Technology (hereinafter referred to as the "IT
Standing Committee"), Lok Sabha Secretariat
in the 52nd Report on "Cyber Crime, Cyber
Security and Right to Privacy" strongly
emphasized the need to institute a legal
framework on privacy.
Violation of privacy should be looked from the
perspective whether other intersecting cluster
of rights have been violated or not.
The privacy right is derived from other

clusters of rights.
- ( Judith Jarvis Thomson, 1975)
The act of owning a picture provides a cluster

of rights such as the right to sell it, the right
to destroy it, the right to view it etc.
- (Thomson)
According to the eminent US law scholar William
L. Prosser (1960), the invasion of privacy would
deem to have occurred under the following four
claims:
1. Intrusion upon Solitude or Seclusion, or into

Private Affairs:
It would be considered a liability if the
intrusion is not acceptable to a “reasonable
person”.
2. Public Disclosure of Embarrassing Facts:
“The matter made public must be one
which would be offensive and objectionable to a
reasonable man of ordinary sensibilities.”
- (Prosser, 1960)
3. Publicity in the False Light in the Public Eye:

Any false comments or opinions that are
misleading and that cause a bad reputation
(“false light”) can be sued for violation of
privacy.
4. Appropriation of Name of Likeness for
Advantage:
If anyone uses the name or likeness for
benefit without consent may result in plaintiff
claiming damages.
 E-mail
E-mail has become a de-facto mode of
communication for both personal and
professional needs.
The internet serves as the conduit through
which global e-mail network operates. Before
reaching the recipient mailbox, the message
travels through intermediate devices and leased
lines, known as hosts and routers, which are
often operated and owned by third parties.
-(O’Brien, 1999)
A copy of the message might be stored in
several devices as it passes through the
origin device and server, to destination server
and device. This so-called “store-and-
forward” technology might be necessary for
technical reasons but raises serious privacy
concerns on the part of users.
-(Rest, 1998)
Detection and prevention of these
activities entail invading the privacy of
citizens by accessing and sometimes
monitoring their emails.
- (Guirguis, 2001)
However, the balance needs to be

maintained so that the right of privacy
in e-mail communication is not
unreasonably compromised.
 Social Networking Sites
With the proliferation of networking sites,
the use of social media has become
mainstream.
-(Madden, 2012)
Even in the usage of social networking sites lay

the basic privacy requirements, and users use
the privacy settings of the social networking
site to balance the competing desires of privacy
and publicity.
-(Metzger & Pure, 2009)
The body of case law in the area of
Internet-related technology “is still
relatively sparse, and only a handful of
courts have had occasion to grapple with
the rapidly evolving nature of privacy
within social networking sites”.
- (Pure, 2013)
The social awareness has to be enhanced
about the risks of posting private information
on such platforms.
In addition, the technical controls in the

protection of information need to be
reassessed and reconfigured to more
stringent requirements.
The legal battle focused on two aspects: the
perceived privacy and the deemed security for
the citizens.
In Apple’s opinion, the desire to create a
computer program that would alter the
technical controls implemented for the
protection of information amount to creating a
back-door that could also be used by the
hackers to compromise the security of devices
used by other customers.
Theoretically, a process known as
“Decapping” might allow recovering the
cryptographic keys from the device by
physical intervention in the transistors and
other micro hardware elements.
In FBI’s opinion, the information obtained
from a device used by the terrorist could
provide valuable clues and links regarding
the terrorist network, thereby diminishing
the probability of more attacks on the
citizens.
 The technology companies will deliberately try to modify
the security mechanism of their devices such that it
would be impossible to access the contents of the
device, even with a custom created computer program.
 It has now become public information that security of

the specific model of iPhone can be compromised as FBI
has publicly stated that it has managed to gain access to
the device used by the terrorist.
 Will government move in the direction of creating

legislation where it would be mandatory for the
technology companies to keep a back-door?
The concept of privacy is very fluid, and the laws
related to this topic are murky and subjective.
The rise of social media and other social
networking sites have resulted in users
voluntarily or involuntary disclosing private
information to the public.
In India we need cultural revolution to decimate
idea of Privacy.
If The Privacy Protection Bill becomes Law, India
would need mass awareness program to
enlighten citizens and Netizens.
THANK YOU

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160615134644

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The term privacy seems to have

been derived from the Latin

 The right of privacy in the light of constitution

 A viewpoint that privacy is not a basic

"The right to privacy is implicit in the right to life and

Ram Jethmalani v. Union of India, cited at:

 Section 43A, which deals with implementation

 Section 72A, which provides for imprisonment for a

The privacy right is derived from other

The act of owning a picture provides a cluster

1. Intrusion upon Solitude or Seclusion, or into

3. Publicity in the False Light in the Public Eye:

However, the balance needs to be

Even in the usage of social networking sites lay

In addition, the technical controls in the

 It has now become public information that security of

 Will government move in the direction of creating

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