Information Privacy concerns and Surveillance in Social Media

Right to privacy is directly proportional to the protection of the dignity of the person. Article 21 of the Constitution of India protects the right to privacy as well as promotes the dignity of a person [1] . There are different approaches to privacy and the degree of privacy may vary from person to person. Daniel Solove argues that privacy can be classified into various categories which may often overlap and the categories are right to bodily privacy, right to be let alone, right to control over personal information, right to secrecy, right to access to self, etc. [2] Dignity is closely related to the concept of privacy and this personal right cannot be infringed upon. Information privacy is one of the classifications under the broad concept of privacy wherein the person has the right to control over personal information. The right to have a control upon personal information has various elements such as collection, storage and access to information with regard to the privacy practices. The user has the right to know how the personal information will be used when is acquired by other interested parties as well protect the data from unauthorized access. Information privacy is an inherent right of a person which upon the infringement affects the person’s dignity. [1] K.S. Puttaswamy and others v. Union of India, (2017)10 SCC 641. [2] Daniel J. Solove, Understanding Privacy , Harvard University Press, (2008).