Privacy please | Mint

Legislation lags behind technology. Having long suffered a data heist online, we finally seem ready to outlaw it. The data protection Bill proposes significant agency over what’s personal to us, with our nod needed for specified uses of data and wipe-out rules after that. Leaks face stiff penalties. Wanton web spying and data misuse would be barred. Strict regulation of those we entrust data to is needed. But does the Bill uphold our fundamental right to privacy? The jury on this is out. For one, the government has kept so many open-ended carve-outs for itself that it’s only a weak shield from the state’s prying gaze, while privacy should be fiduciary-agnostic as a guarantee. For another, the data protection board proposed would lack functional autonomy, which poses a conflict of interest in case the Centre is a party to a dispute. The Bill has plenty yet to be notified but no space to limit or spell out what data state organs can hold on people. So Big Brother surveillance will remain a risk, one that could see court doors knocked to hold in check. The private sector’s data appetite must be curbed, no doubt, but we await a proper privacy shield under Article 21 of the Constitution.