16 Feb Issue Of Privacy: A conundrum
Posted at 16 Feb 2021
in Current Affairs, Ethics, Governance, GS Paper II, GS Paper III, GS Paper IV, Science and technology
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Context:
- The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of India issued notices to social media giants Whatsapp and Facebook over privacy concerns.
- While the matter is still unclear in Court, the CJI had asked the social media companies to file an affidavit under oath.
Issue:
- Currently, this issue started when Whatsapp updated their privacy policies a month ago.
- The fact that data of Whatsapp would be shared with Facebook created an apprehension of violation of privacy.
- The point of contention is that the same set of rules which is applied in India is not applied in the EU.
- Whatapp defended this policy stating the EU has a stringent privacy law namely, General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and if India would have such laws in the future they’d adhere to it as well.
Way Ahead:
- Rather than letting the Judiciary make the call to guard the Fundamental Right to Privacy, the legislature can enact a bill that is in accordance with the Constitution.
- The gross violation of privacy and data in the 21st century is rampant, the timing couldn’t be any better to introduce the law.
(The Hindu)
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