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Unit 12: Customer Privacy

While this article will not suggest that markets can provide a solution to every privacy issue, it Notes
will argue that they can be utilized much more than in the past.

12.1 Privacy – An Indian Perspective

Privacy could particularly be defined as the expectation that confidential personal information
disclosed by any individual to Government or non Government entity should not be disclosed
to third parties without consent of the person and sufficient safeguards need to be adopted while
processing and storing such information. In essence, disclosure of data which can be used to
identify a physical person without following the due procedure could be construed as breach of
privacy.

12.1.1 What is Privacy?

In the information sector, privacy consists of two distinguishable but related aspects:
1. The protection against intrusion by unwanted information.

2. This is sometimes termed “the right to be left alone,” and it is an analogue to the
constitutional protection to be secure in one’s home against intrusion.
The ability to control information about oneself and one’s activities; this is related in some ways
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to proprietary protection accorded to other forms of information through copyright laws, and
security of information about oneself from tampering by others.
The common aspect of both these elements is that they establish a barrier to information flows
between the individual and society at large. In the first case, it is a barrier against information
inflows; in the second instance, against information outflows. The concept of privacy is not
without its detractors.

12.1.2 Need for Privacy Protection

India does not currently have a general data protection statute. Nevertheless, the judiciary has
derived a “right of privacy” from the rights available under Articles 19(1) (a) (the fundamental
right to freedom of speech and expression) and 21 (the right to life and personal liberty) of the
Constitution of India. However, all cases that deal with the right to privacy have been decided
in the context of Government actions that resulted in private citizens being denied their right to
personal privacy. No privacy judgment has granted private citizens a right of action against the
breach of privacy by another private citizen. To that extent, the data protection and personal
privacy jurisprudence in the country is not yet fully developed.
India is not a particularly private nation. Personal information is often shared freely and without
thinking twice. Public life is organized without much thought to safeguarding personal data. In
fact, the public dissemination of personal information has over time, become a way of
demonstrating the transparent functioning of the government.

A group of officers was constituted to develop a conceptual framework that could serve the
country’s balance of interests and concern on privacy, data protection and security and which
also responds domain legislation on the subject. The group held several meetings and also held
discussions with stakeholders groups (civil society organizations, local practitioners, business
and banking representatives). Subsequent to these discussions, Shri Rahul Matthan of Tri Legal
Services who has been an active participant in these discussions has prepared the unit for the
legal framework for proposed legislation on privacy. The unit, with some modifications
including some suggestions made by Shri Kamlesh Bajaj, CEO, and Data Security Council of
India is now being circulated for seeking opinions of the group of officers and is also being

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