{"id":638,"date":"2018-01-15T18:54:57","date_gmt":"2018-01-15T18:54:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wakilsahab.in\/news\/?p=638"},"modified":"2018-01-15T18:54:57","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T18:54:57","slug":"right-to-privacy-centre-constitutes-panel-to-draft-data-protection-bill-former-sc-judge-to-lead-expert-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wakilsahab.in\/news\/right-to-privacy-centre-constitutes-panel-to-draft-data-protection-bill-former-sc-judge-to-lead-expert-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Right to privacy: Centre constitutes panel to draft data protection bill; former SC judge to lead expert group"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source –\u00a0firstpost.com<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has appointed an expert group headed by former Supreme Court judge BN Srikrishna to draft a data protection law,\u00a0Livemint<\/em>\u00a0has reported.<\/p>\n

This comes in the backdrop of the apex court\u00a0hearing arguments in a batch of cases\u00a0which will determine whether there is a fundamental right to privacy.\u00a0The decision to constitute the group was communicated by the UIDAI to the Supreme Court as part of its arguments\u00a0on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Data protection\u00a0is one of the facets\u00a0of the right to privacy as\u00a0a data protection law will\u00a0protect\u00a0your personal information, which is collected, processed and stored by “automated” means or intended to be part of a filing system. This becomes extremely relevant in the current Indian context as the Aadhaar debate is centred\u00a0around the collection of citizens’ personal information. A data protection law will thus necessarily regulate the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which is responsible for maintaining Aadhaar data.<\/p>\n

The memo, which communicated the constitution of the committee, said that it will study\u00a0various issues relating to data protection in India and make specific suggestions for the Central government to consider. It will also formulate principles to be considered for data protection in India and suggest a draft Data Protection Bill.<\/p>\n

The memo\u00a0also puts the onus on MeitY to collect the necessary information and present it to the expert group within eight weeks of the date of the memo. Based on the information presented, the group will start its deliberations. However, there is no time frame in which the group must submit its report. The only instruction in this regard is that the group will try to submit its report “as expeditiously as possible”.<\/p>\n

While informing the Supreme Court of the decision to form the committee, Additional Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that\u00a0the government expects to frame a Data Protection Bill which will be along the lines of the “technology-neutral” draft Privacy Bill submitted by an earlier expert committee led by former Delhi High Court chief justice AP Shah, reports\u00a0The Hindu<\/em>. That bill was presented to the Planning Commission in 2012\u00a0but no steps were taken on its\u00a0recommendations.<\/p>\n

Out of the committee members, Arghya Sengupta has earlier made his views clear on the right to privacy when\u00a0he wrote, “\u2026 when a blunt instrument such as a blanket right to privacy is used to petition the court in order to stop the government’s Aadhaar programme, which is the context in which this controversy arose, SC is well entitled to pause and require the instrument to be sharpened.”<\/p>\n

Another member, Aruna Sundarajan,\u00a0has laid down\u00a0what data privacy laws need to look at. She said, “First, what should be the security framework for any kind of digital payments? Two, the standards and liabilities of the service provider. Third, data privacy and confidentiality. Fourth, storage and access of data. And if someone fails to comply, what penalty should apply, especially where details of millions of citizens (are involved).”<\/p>\n

Ajay Bhushan Pandey, defending Aadhaar, wrote in\u00a0The Indian Express: “<\/em>The critics tend to forget that Aadhaar empowers the people, not the state. India’s effort to provide unique identification to its people and digitise its citizen databases, public or private, is mistaken as an exercise towards invasion of privacy\u2026 Often, the current debate reminds us of Europe\u2019s Luddite movement in the 19th century when mechanisation was opposed due to fears of job loss.”<\/p>\n

The right to privacy\u00a0cases\u00a0before the Supreme Court have come from various petitioners, some of whom are worried about the State storing and sharing their biometric information. While the government has claimed that its user data is safe and secure, the committee\u00a0will design abroader framework which will cover all other kinds of data and ensure that the deliberations on the issue start as soon as possible.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Livemint<\/em>\u00a0report also said that once the privacy question is settled by the nine-judge Constitution bench, the remaining issues related to Aadhaar will be heard by a smaller bench.<\/p>\n

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