New Delhi: A five-judge Constitution bench on Wednesday observed that right to privacy of citizens in sharing Aadhaar details and national interest should be balanced.
When counsel Shyam Divan said there that this will lead to police raj, Justice Chandrachud shot back, “Can we not make distinction of data collection and utilisation and say the data collected shall not be used for purposes other than collected.”
Senior Lawyer Kapil Sibal appearing for one of the petitioners told the bench, “Big brother is constantly watching us. Why should the big brother have that data? He may use it and by the time individuals come to court years will pass.”
Mr Divan argued that the project creates the architecture for pervasive surveillance and unless the project is stopped, it will lead to an Orwellian state where every move of the citizen is constantly tracked and recorded by the state. By enabling private entities to use the Aadhaar authentication platform the citizen’s right to informational privacy is violated inasmuch as the citizen is compelled to ‘report’ the actions to the state.
