Aadhar Card and Right to Privacy

Over the years legal scholars have attempted to define privacy but it is only in the last century this word has been used as a legal concept to describe the state's duty to let its people alone in certain spheres of their lives. Later in the course of its academic and juristic evolution, the concept was described more succinctly as the claim of individuals, groups or institutions to determine for themselves when, how and to what extent information about themselves is communicated to others. The scheme of Aadhar card infringes on people’s privacy as there was misuse of power, trust, personal information and data. Biometric data and iris scan that was being collected for issuing AADHAR violated the citizen’s fundamental right to privacy as their personal data was not being protected and was vulnerable to exposure and misuse. Privacy is an essential aspect of dignity. Dignity cannot exist without privacy. Both reside within the inalienable values of life, liberty and freedom which the Constitution has recognized. Privacy is the ultimate expression of the sanctity of the individual. It is a constitutional value which straddles across the spectrum of fundamental rights and protects for the individual a zone of choice and self-determination. Expression ‘life’ under Article 21 means not merely the right to a person’s “animal existence” and that the expression ‘personal liberty’ is a guarantee against invasion into the sanctity of a person’s home or an intrusion into personal security.