PRIVACY AS A LIBERTY IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SHPERE

 PRIVACY AS A LIBERTY IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SHPERE

 

The debate of privacy basically had ignited in the 21st century with the need for data privacy laws and civil rights of privacy of every individual, irrespective of their sexual preference. Privacy is an important facet to life and liberty and an inherent part of the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. It exists equally in all individuals, irrespective of class, strata, gender or orientation. It plays a significant role in the development of one’s personality, integrity, and dignity. However, the fact the privacy is not an absolute right, but an invasion must be based on legality, need and proportionality for safeguarding this cherished right and such an invasion must be justified by law.

 

1. INTRODUCTION

According to Justice Krishna Iyer,“Personal liberty makes for the worth of human person”. Hence, the notion of dignity and liberty are not independent of privacy.

 The concept of Privacy is not at all new and it does not need any; it just needs a legal recognition as it is as old as common law and is basically a result of the common laws. It is so deeply embedded with liberty and dignity of an individual that it cannot be denied the status of a fundamental right. In the words of the Jurists like Arthur Miller it is difficult to define privacy because it is ephemeral. Whereas Jurists Aristotle and William Blacks while trying to define privacy go on to differentiate between private wrong and public wrong. Public wrong means wrong against the society and private wrong means wrong against the individual.

 

 

2. OUTLINING PRIVACY

Privacy is the right to be left alone or to be free from misuse or abuse of one’s personality. The right of privacy is the right to be free from unwarranted publicity, to live a life of seclusion, and to live without unwarranted interference by the public in such matters where the public has no say and the public is not directly or indirectly involved in it. It is the right of a person to be free from intrusion into or publicity concerning matters of a personal nature. The right that determines the non-intervention of secret surveillance and the protection of an individual’s information. It is split into 4 categories

(1) Physical: An imposition whereby another individual is restricted from experiencing an individual or a situation. 

(2) Decisional: The imposition of a restriction that is exclusive to an entity.

(3) Informational: The prevention of searching for unknown information.

(4) Dispositional: The prevention of attempts made to get to know the state of mind of an individual. It is a state in which one is not observed or disturbed by other people and the state of being free from public attention.

 

3. EVOLUTION OF THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY IN INDIA

The right to privacy emerges primarily from Article 21 of the Indian Constitution which states that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to the procedure established by law”. The Constitution of India does not specifically recognise

‘right to privacy’ as a fundamental right, it is, however, implicit in the provisions of Article 21 of the Constitution of India as is now evident from judicial pronouncements discussed here. The following are the series of judicial decisions where the term privacy has been dealt with time and again by the courts. With these judicial decisions, the birth of 'Right to privacy' as a Fundamental Right can be traced. 

PRIVACY AS A LIBERTY IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SHPERE

By –Shambhavi

VIP-AUTHOR