Statement on Agenda Item 3: Panel discussion on Right to Privacy in the Digital Age, September 12, 2014 Statement on Agenda Item 3: Panel discussion on Right to Privacy in the Digital Age, September 12, 2..

Statement on Agenda Item 3: Panel discussion on Right to Privacy in the Digital Age, September 12, 2014

PERMANENT MISSION OF INDIA TO THE UN, GENEVA

HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL

27TH SESSION (8-26 September 2014)

Agenda Item 3: Panel Discussion on Right to Privacy in the Digital Age, September 12, 2014

Statement by India

Mr President,

1. We welcome the convening of this panel discussion on the right to privacy in the digital age. It is timely for this council to deliberate on this important issue.

 

2. Rapid advances in communication technologies and an all-pervasive digital media present huge challenges to the right to privacy. At the same time, there is an imperative for balancing national security and the need to protect individuals right to privacy. The internet has transcended traditionally existing geographical boundaries. While the ease of data access and real time communication have facilitated our lives including the enjoyment of human rights particularly the right to freedom of expression, usage of internet for anti-social and criminal activities is also on the rise. This has presented new and complex challenges including huge challenges to States in guaranteeing the Right to Privacy. It is important that digital surveillance and the gathering of personal information, if ever undertaken, is carried out in a proportionate and non-arbitrary manner, with legitimate purpose, in accordance with the rule of law and with effective oversight.

 

3. Supreme Court of India has interpreted Article 21 of the Constitution of India that guarantees the right to life to encompass the right to privacy. The Information Technology Act 2000 as amended in 2008 provides additional focus on security of digital communications and protects the right to privacy including by providing for the compensation of the person affected by wrongful loss or wrongful gain.

 

4. In today’s digital age, the right to privacy is under serious threat. The nature of modern communication technology and the imbalance in global internet governance allows scope for extensive extraterritorial electronic surveillance violating the right to privacy. The OHCHR report rightly states that States are obliged by Article 17 (read together with article 2) of ICCPR to respect and protect the right to privacy in the context of extraterritorial surveillance and that any interference with the right to privacy should comply with the principles of legality, proportionality and necessity regardless of the nationality or location of individuals whose communications are under direct surveillance.

 

5. In this regard we would like to hear views of the panelists on

(i) how the international community can ensure procedural safeguards and effective oversight over extraterritorial surveillance.

(ii) how a democratic and transparent global internet governance structure can facilitate the protection and promotion of the right to privacy.

 

6. OHCHR report also points to the rapid proliferation of mass surveillance technologies in the global market and the potential risk of digital surveillance going out of control of governments. To address these challenges, the report highlights the critical importance of leadership in ensuring that these technologies are used to promote rather than restrict the enjoyment of the human rights enshrined in the international legal framework. We would like to know from the panelists how and at what level is this leadership needed to promote and protect the right to privacy.

 

Thank you.

 

*****