DATA PROTECTION & RIGHT TO PRIVACY: LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK IN INDIA

The amount of data generated in the current digital era has increased significantly. Companies are deriving substantial value and making a lot of profit just by evaluating data. Recent headlines have shed light on how corporate giants and popular social networking sites are minting money by compromising data privacy of their customers and users, respectively. Surprisingly, these companies are willing to shed millions and billions to gain access to data. Indeed, data is the new currency in contemporary times. We, users, are voluntarily and involuntarily sharing our data on the internet during online shopping, e-banking, placing online food orders, or even while making our presence on social networking sites and instant messaging platforms. We do not realize how conveniently we are giving up our privacy rights, by clicking on, 'terms and conditions that may apply' or 'accept' option on these online sites. Regardless of so many data scandals across the globe, there is a steeping rise in the number of users using the World Wide Web. In 2018, data of millions of Facebook users were compromised and used by Cambridge Analytica for political advertisement. Recently, amidst the coronavirus outbreak, another instance of infringement of data privacy of users of Zoom, an application for virtual meeting, web-conferencing and webinars has been in the news. During this pandemic, schools, colleges, and offices are operating in online mode, and Zoom application became quite popular because of its ease in use, and its free plans. Security flaws and inefficient encryption policy in the app led to instances of zoom bombings and unauthorized entry in the zoom meetings. It's been reported that the personal details of more than half a million Zoom users have been compromised and traded on the dark web at a throwaway price. The right to privacy derives its significance from Article 21, 'protection of life and personal liberty' of the Indian Constitution. The premise of dignity, equality, and liberty lays down the basic structure of the Indian Constitution, in which privacy is the underlying foundation of human dignity. In this information age, with the increasing use of data, safeguarding data privacy has become increasingly difficult. The general public ignores the subtleties and unintentionally share personal data with third parties subjecting themselves to privacy infringement. This article is an attempt to shed light on the existing legal regime concerning data protection and the right to privacy in India.