---
abstract: |
  The assurance to dignity of the individual enshrined in the
  Constitution has finally found its de jure place through this
  judgement as the core of personal liberty and the right to privacy.
archive-url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20230908220353/https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/right-to-privacy-not-just-for-privileged-few-it-s-a-part-of-what-makes-us-human/story-IIrndzB0Y8SnXX5FB5POnM.html"
author:
- Pranesh Prakash
- Elonnai Hickok
authors:
- name: Pranesh Prakash
- name: Elonnai Hickok
categories:
- Privacy
citation:
  abstract: The assurance to dignity of the individual enshrined in the
    Constitution has finally found its de jure place through this
    judgement as the core of personal liberty and the right to privacy.
  accessed: 2019-01-12
  archive: "https://web.archive.org/web/20230908220353/https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/right-to-privacy-not-just-for-privileged-few-it-s-a-part-of-what-makes-us-human/story-IIrndzB0Y8SnXX5FB5POnM.html"
  author:
  - name: Pranesh Prakash
  - name: Elonnai Hickok
  available-date:
    date-parts:
    - - 2017
      - 8
      - 24
    iso-8601: 2017-08-24
    literal: 2017-08-24
    raw: 2017-08-24
  citation-key: prakashRightPrivacy2017
  container-title: Hindustan Times
  issued:
    date-parts:
    - - 2017
      - 8
      - 24
    iso-8601: 2017-08-24
    literal: 2017-08-24
    raw: 2017-08-24
  language: en
  license: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0
    International License (CC-BY-NC-SA)
  title: Right to privacy not just for privileged few, it's a part of
    what makes us human
  type: article-newspaper
  URL: "https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/right-to-privacy-not-just-for-privileged-few-it-s-a-part-of-what-makes-us-human/story-IIrndzB0Y8SnXX5FB5POnM.html"
comments:
  hypothesis:
    theme: clean
date: 2017-08-24
engines:
- path: /opt/quarto/share/extension-subtrees/julia-engine/\_extensions/julia-engine/julia-engine.js
license:
  text: CC BY-NC 4.0
  type: creative-commons
  url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/"
listing-page: ../press.html
original-url: "https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/right-to-privacy-not-just-for-privileged-few-it-s-a-part-of-what-makes-us-human/story-IIrndzB0Y8SnXX5FB5POnM.html"
publication: Hindustan Times
title: Right to privacy not just for privileged few, it's a part of what
  makes us human
title-block-categories: true
toc-title: Table of contents
---

# Right to privacy not just for privileged few, it's a part of what makes us human

------------------------------------------------------------------------

In a verdict that will surely count as one of the most important for
human rights in recent times, the Supreme Court of India has
resoundingly and in a unanimous 9-0 judgment, held the right to privacy
to indeed be a fundamental right protected by the Constitution of India.

This means that laws that violate the right to privacy can be struck
down on that ground by a High Court or the Supreme Court.

The assurance to dignity of the individual which is enshrined in the
Preamble of the Constitution has finally found its de jure place through
this judgement as the core of personal liberty and the right to privacy.
One of the most important implications of this in jurisprudential terms
is that the right to privacy is to be viewed not just in instrumentalist
terms --- what harms will befall us if we don't have privacy --- but
also in purely inherent terms --- we need privacy for its own sake,
because it is an intrinsic part of what makes us human.

By firmly holding that privacy is joined at the hip with dignity and
liberty, the Supreme Court has put India on a progressive path of
societal and technological evolution. A majority of the judges recognise
the need to ensure the horizontal applicability of the right to privacy.

The government argued against the right to privacy by countering that
companies like Facebook and Google collect your data. The judgment
rightfully holds that this doesn't in any way diminish the need for
privacy: it enhances it.

The judges realised the importance of privacy in the age of technology,
and discuss the privacy concerns from data aggregation, from big data,
and emerging areas like the right to be forgotten. However, they have
left addressing these concerns up to the government, which has
constituted a new committee on data protection chaired by Justice
Srikrishna.

It is commendable that women's bodily integrity (in the context of
abortion) and citizens' sexual orientation are among those aspects of
privacy that were recognised in this judgment. After this judgment, it
is difficult to see how Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which
criminalises even consensual and private gay sex, will be upheld by the
review bench of the Supreme Court.

Though the central government (along with four NDA-ruled states) opposed
privacy being a fundamental right, while four opposition-ruled states
had supported the petitioners in the case, this case was about far more
than politics: it was about the ethos of our Republic.

If the judgement can be captured in a nutshell, then in the seminal
words of Justice Chandrachud: "The pursuit of happiness is founded upon
autonomy and dignity. Both are essential attributes of privacy which
makes no distinction between the birth marks of individuals."

*(Elonnai Hickok is Director - Internet Governance, while Pranesh
Prakash is Plicy Director at the Centre for Internet and Society.)*