Mere collection of data doesn’t hit privacy: SC

Data collection for handing social benefits doesn’t invade people’s privacy, the Supreme Court said on Thursday in a case that could have a bearing on the government’s push to link Aadhaar with a string of services and schemes.

NEW DELHI: Data collection for handing social benefits doesn’t invade people’s privacy, the Supreme Court said on Thursday in a case that could have a bearing on the government’s push to link Aadhaar with a string of services and schemes.

A nine-member constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice JS Khehar, made the remark during a hearing to determine if privacy is a fundamental right.

“Mere collection of data by the state to identify those who can benefit out of a socio-economic programme may not amount to impinging someone’s privacy,” it said. Privacy rights became a hotly debated subject after the NDA government’s move to make Aadhaar, a 12-digit identification number, mandatory for people to become social welfare beneficiaries. Besides, people are now required to link Aadhaar with their personal account number, or PAN, for filing income tax returns.The petitioners in the Aadhaar case argue that privacy is a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution and, hence, gathering a person’s personal and biometric details breaches the privilege. The government rebuts the argument and has taken a stand based on the top court’s previous verdicts that say privacy is not an inviolable right. The bench is revisiting the two judgments as well.

Chief Justice Khehar proposed a formula to define the right to privacy. “I think whenever an action bothers one’s dignity we could probably say it violates that person’s privacy. Dignity flows out of liberty and privacy flows out of dignity,” he said.

“If government recognizes dignity then privacy has to be protected.” On the second day of the hearing, the debate was on how far can a person assert his right to privacy and remain anonymous in this age of the all-intrusive internet. Justice DY Chandrachud, a member of the bench, said all depends on whether the data were used for legitimate or illegal purposes. “What is wrong if the government wants to put in place socio-economic programmes and have data to identify people who can be the beneficiaries?” he told senior counsel Anand Grover.