The ‘Right to be Forgotten’ in India:

Context:

Ashutosh Kaushik, a celebrity, has approached Delhi High Court seeking removal of his videos, photographs and articles from the internet. He has cited his “Right to be Forgotten“.

 

What are his demands?

• Kaushik’s plea mentions that the posts and videos on internet related to him have caused him psychological pain for diminutive acts, which were erroneously committed a decade ago.
• The plea also says that mistakes in his personal life becomes and remains in public knowledge for generations to come.

 

What is the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ in the Indian context?

• The Right to be Forgotten falls under the purview of an individual’s right to privacy.
• In 2017, the Right to Privacy was declared a fundamental right (under Article 21) by the Supreme Court in its landmark verdict (Puttuswamy case).

 

What does the Personal Data Protection Bill say about this?

Right to privacy is also governed by the Personal Data Protection Bill that is yet to be passed by Parliament.

The bill exclusively talks about the “Right to be Forgotten.”

• Broadly, under the Right to be forgotten, users can de-link, limit, delete or correct the disclosure of their personal information held by data fiduciaries.

 

But, what are the issues associated with this provision in the Bill?

The main issue with the provision is that the sensitivity of the personal data and information cannot be determined independently by the person concerned, but will be overseen by the Data Protection Authority (DPA).

• This means that while the draft bill gives some provisions under which a user can seek that his data be removed, but his or her rights are subject to authorisation by the Adjudicating Officer who works for the DPA.