Protecting privacy

New legislation must address all concerns

There are several implications to the withdrawal of the Personal Data Protection Bill. Legislation on this front is an urgent priority, and years overdue. But poorly drafted legislation, which doesn’t serve the purpose, may have had even more deleterious effects than an absence of legislation. In 2017, the Supreme Court held “the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty”. The apex court asked for legislation to protect personal data as a fundamental right. A committee chaired by former Supreme Court judge B N Srikrishna submitted a report on data privacy,