RIGHT TO PRIVACY MAY BECOME FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT

The Law Ministry is working on a proposal to make Right to Privacy a fundamental Right, it is believed that the phone tapping of the corporate lobbyist Niira Radia is the trigger behind this move.

The Law Minister, Veerappa Moily added to this that they are making plans to present it during the monsoon session of the Parliament.

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, medical, legal and financial information, protection from identity theft of various kinds, protection of use of a person’s photograph, 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 been observed as a part of the professional ethics like a lawyer and a doctor need not disclose the details about his client or patient to anyone else, they have to keep it confidential. In the same manner even banks maintain certain confidential terms regarding its customers whose details need not be disclosed to any third party. Apart from strengthening norms for interception of communication, the proposed act will guarantee a person’s right to privacy. It will be similar in the way the constitution guarantees the already existing fundamental rights like right to equality, right to freedom of speech and expression etc.