Before we discuss the meaning of right to privacy, it’s very important to know the meaning of privacy alone. Privacy or right to privacy is the right to be let alone; the right of a person to be free from any unwarranted publicity; the right to live without any unwarranted interference by the public in matters with which the public is not necessarily concerned. Privacy helps us establish boundaries to limit who has access to our bodies, places and things, as well as our communications and our information. However, right of privacy is our right to keep a domain around us, which includes all these things that are part of us, such as our body, home, property, thoughts, feelings, secrets and identity, the right to privacy gives us the ability to choose that which parts in this domain can be accessed by others and to control the extent, manner and timing of the use of those parts we choose to disclose.
The Indian constitution guarantees a fundamental right to privacy. This was upheld in a decision of a nine judge constitutional bench of the Supreme Court in August 2017. Hence, Right to Privacy is a Fundamental Right. It is a right which protects the inner sphere of the individual from interference from both State and non-state actors and allows the individuals to make autonomous life choices.
The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution. It protects the inner sphere of the individual from interference from both State and non-State actors and allows individuals to make autonomous life choices.
Many international instruments also recognise this right. The constitutional right to privacy has come to be recognized by almost all democratic countries in the world. The other statutes that have a universal status also contain provisions relating to this right as well as recognizing it. Some of them are:
1. Universal Declaration of Human Rights
2. International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
3. European Convention on Human Rights
Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence nor to attack upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”
“Article 12: No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”
Right to privacy is a recognition of the Right to life and Right to personal liberty. Article 21 of the Constitution of India states that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law”. The right to life enshrined in Article 21 has been liberally interpreted so as to mean something more than mere survival and mere existence or animal existence. It therefore includes all those aspects of life which makes a man’s life more meaningful, complete and worth living and right to privacy is one such right. Hence, right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of right to life and personal liberty.
With the ever-increasing advancement in technology in the present times, it has become more and more essential that the right to privacy is protected adequately. Our lives are excessively exposed to social media, and it has become imperative that protection should be given to one and all in a way that it does not create an apprehension in the mind of people about their right to privacy. This has assumed much more importance, with the Apex Court recognizing this right as a fundamental right.
Though privacy should be protected in every aspect, like the other fundamental rights, the right to privacy is also subject to reasonable restrictions that can be imposed by the government under certain special situations.
Aishwarya Says:
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