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Kerala High Court has pronounced a significant judgement in respect of Right to Forget by distinguishing cases where the “Open Court Justice System”  is not recognized and in-camera proceedings are permitted. In matrimonial cases it has ruled that on request the identities of the parties may be masked in the published judgements.

More details in livelaw here.

Copy of the judgement is here

The discussion is relevant since in the new DPDPB 2022 there is no mention of Right to Forget which automatically places it as a right to be exercised only on specific request in a judicial forum.

The Right to Erase which is the closest right  to “Right to Forget” is considered as limited to the removal of personal data from active use which is an obligation on the data fiduciary when the purpose of processing is deemed to have  been completed or the consent has been withdrawn. However “Right to Erase” does not extend to refuse “Disclosure” if the request for disclosure is from an authorized law enforcement agency or is otherwise required in the legitimate interest situation.

In such circumstances, Personal data on expiry of processing would be retained for a reasonable period as per other legislations like the Income Tax act or IPC or ITA 2000 as long as it is legally required. It would have to be however secured and disclosed only under due process.

Some clarification on these thoughts are expected after the new Act becomes a law and until that time we need to keep our fingers crossed and consider the Right to Forget as a grey area under the new Act.

Naavi

On 17h December 2022, Cyber Society of India, ExNoRa and SPIN-to Chennai conducted an event in Chennai in which Naavi was conferred a Life Time Achievement Award for his contributions to the Cyber Jurisprudence. Simultaneously three other persons who along with Naavi were instrumental in the first conviction under ITA 2000 which occurred in 2004 namely the Magistrate Sri Arul Raj, The IO, Sri Balu Swaminathan and Special Public prosecutor, Mr Kodandaraman were also facilitated with life time achievement awards.

PROGRAM

The event was held at Hotel Raj Sundar Palace, Raja Annamalai Puram. Several dignitaries including senior advocates participated in the event.

Sitting Judge of Madras High Court, Honourable Sri Bharata Chakravarthy gave away the awards.

Further, Advocate M A Ranganath who argued the Umashankar case in the Madras High Court was also facilitated as a Guest of Honour.

Suhas Katti case was historical because it was the first criminal conviction under ITA 2000 which occurred in the year 2004. It was also the first case in which Section 65B certificate was admitted as an evidence and was the main evidence of the offence. Naavi had presented the evidence. (Copy of the judgement is available here:

Copy of Suhas katti Judgement

Umashankar Vs ICICI Bank adjudication was historic because it was the first instance of Adjudication under ITA 2000 resulting in the liability of the Intermediary Bank was upheld in a Phishing Case. The award was given by the then IT Secretary of Tamil Nadu, Mr P W C Dawidar in 2010.

It was subsequently confirmed by the TDSAT under the chairmanship of Honourable Retired Supreme Court Justice, Sri Shiva Kirti Singh in 2019. (During the intervening period the trial continued in Cyber Appellate Tribunal for 2 years before the Tribunal became dysfunctional and later re-started its activities under TDSAT in 2018).

Further the Bank filed an appeal in Madras High Court and the trial was concluded and Judgement dismissing the appeal was released on November 9, 2022.

Naavi argued the case under a Power of Attorney on behalf of the victim Sri S Umashankar who is an NRI, in Adjudication, Cyber Appellate Tribunal and TDSAT. In Madras High Court he was the Expert to assist the Court and Advocate Ranganath presented the arguments.

The  judgement copies in S Umashankar case are available below:

1. Adjudication award from Adjudicator of Tamil Nadu
2. TDSAT Judgement of January 2019 and Reviewed Judgement from TDSAT of March 2019
3. AO’s order following TDSAT Review
4. Madras High Court order on Naavi as PIP
5. Judgment of Madras High Court.

Naavi

Also read:

Magistrate D Arul Raj is an unsung hero in development of Jurisprudence under Section 65B of Indian Evidence Act : December 9, 2017

Also view the Discussion on the case at FDPPI

Some videos I found on Youtube :

RBI has released an instructive booklet on Cyber Frauds  which should be of great use to common people.

Since this is meant for public awareness, a copy is provided here. 

Naavi

While we carry on a discussion on the “Right to Privacy” as a fundamental right and what should be the provisions of regulation such as Digital Data Protection Act or GDPR etc., there is a need to also have a firm understanding of the foundation and legislative background for the law.

The DPDPB2022 has skirted the issue by making this Bill only as an attempt to regulate Governance of Digital Personal Data in a manner that it would ensure that Personal Data is not misused to cause infringement of Privacy Right.

But the real nature of the Right to Privacy beyond it being a part of the Fundamental Right to Life and Liberty under the Article 21 of the Indian Constitution is not clearly explained even in the Puttaswamy Judgement.

There is therefore a need for a continued academic debate on this topic since this will come to haunt us even when regulations are notified under DPDPB 2022.

Naavi.org would like to start a debate on the “Theory of Privacy” for academic purpose with the hope that we would add to the global knowledge base on the topic.

I invite participation of other academicians in this respect. Watch out for series of articles that would be released over a period of time.

Naavi

Naavi has embarked on a major project to bring together all Data Protection Consultants into one common platform.

By “Data Protection Consultants”, I mean individuals who  are capable of providing guidance to an organization in implementing Privacy or Information Security related compliances.

The set of such consultants also include  firms which have teams of multiple consultants and divisions of some large companies which have a vertical for extending such services.

The instrument through which these consultants would interact is a techno legal platform presently identified as “Federation of Data Protection Consultants” (FDPC).

The platform will have multiple objectives.

The first objective is to get together all consultant and consultancy organizations in the domain of Privacy, Data and  Protection as well as and Information Security consultancy on one platform as a “Self help Group” with its own self regulatory practices for Ethical business.

The second objective is to enable the consultants to offer their services through the platform.

The third objective is to enable the organizations most of whom may be SME/MSMEs to access the services of these consultants through the platform.

The platform may be considered as a “Data Protection Services Exchange”

The platform will be managed by a “Registrar” who will maintain the technical services.

The platform will be an affiliate of FDPPI but will be a subcontractor.

The platform will be an “Intermediary” under ITA 2000 and act as an aggregator of services and not the service provider himself.

The actual consultancy contract would be between the consultant and the client which will be facilitated by the platform.

In order to improve the credibility and ensure smooth service, the platform may organize secondary back up services under a separate “Contingent Service Contract”.

The process of empanelment of consultants, receiving enquiries from prospective clients, short listing of consultants to a given project, receiving bids, managing preliminary negotiations, as well as dispute resolution will be provided as the platform service. In this process principles used in Arbitration Councils, Tendering processes, Service aggregators etc will all be used appropriately.

It is envisaged that the platform could emerge as a Service Start up under Ujvala Consultants Private Limited and partners to such a project are welcome.

In order to explain the concept further, Naavi conducted an open house discussion today the 11th December 2022 at 11.00 am on Zoom.

The recording of the session is here:

Naavi