CPI-M demands new law to be passed for protection of privacy

New Delhi, July 26 : The CPI-M on Wednesday demanded a "new law for the protection of privacy of individuals" after the Supreme Court set constitutional limits on the Right to Privacy.

The party urged the central government to "clearly stipulate the penal provision for any violation" causing any breach in the privacy of an individual "as seen in the latest breach of Aadhaar information on websites by Jio".

It said the concept of qualifications on the right to privacy was understandable as long as they were needed by the government, which might want them to fight crises. "But sharing data with corporates should be rendered a violation.

"What the Supreme Court is discussing is not whether privacy is a fundamental right or not... Today privacy is not an issue between the individual and the government, which wants reasonable restrictions on it in order to combat terrorism," CPI-M General Secretary Sitaram Yechury told reporters here.

"Data is the biggest asset today for all the corporates and this huge database of the Indian people must be protected," he said, adding that every individual must be protected from such "mercenary corporate activity".

At a hearing at the Supreme Court on Wednesday, the central government said the right to privacy was a fundamental right but not all its facets could be elevated to the status of a fundamental right.