The Supreme Court’s articulation of the broad contours of the right to privacy is very valuable, says legal expert Chinmayi Arun.
Chinmayi Arun is executive director of the Centre for Communication Governance at National Law University, Delhi, where she is also an assistant professor of law. A fellow of the BerkmanKlein Centre at Harvard University, she has published academic papers on surveillance and the right to privacy in India and on information gatekeeper liability in the context of Internet intermediaries.
Chinmayi Arun is the lead author of the India country report in Freedom House’s Freedom on the Net report for 2014 and 2015, and of the India report in the Global Network of Centres’ study of online intermediaries. Her public commentary on the right to privacy has been prominent and she has lectured nationally and internationally on the subject. Excerpts from an email interview she gave Frontline:
The Centre for Communication Governance has followed the Supreme Court’s hearing on the right to privacy closely. Were you expecting a unanimous judgment in favour of the fundamental right to privacy like this from the nine-judge bench from your reading of the observations from the bench during the hearing?
We were expecting a judgment in favour of the right to privacy but had never thought about unanimity. It is good to know that none of the judges wanted to be on the wrong side of history this time. Truthfully, I have faith in most of the Supreme Court judges when it comes to these things. I would have been very surprised if the bench had held that there is no fundamental right to privacy.
People did tell me that they were worried at the questions the bench was asking. I was not worried about the questions because privacy is a relatively new and unusual right. It takes most people time to see why it matters; it is okay to ask questions towards achieving a better understanding.
This story is from the September 15, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
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This story is from the September 15, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
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