The Right To Privacy in India

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Introduction

Today, the degradation of the inner life is symbolized by the fact that the only place sacred from interruption is the private toilet. - Lewis Mumford, American philosopher

The needs of human beings start from the most primary needs such as food, clothing and shelter to secondary needs such as education, work and recreation and further on to wants such as entertainment, good food, leisure travel, etc . The question that must be asked is where does privacy fit into all these needs and wants? Is it a need or is it a want? Is it required anyway?

One might assert that the degree of privacy dictates whether it is a want or a need. A basic degree of privacy is a primary need in any civilised society. As the degree of privacy increases, it evolves into a secondary need and further to a want. As civilisation evolves, the law has evolved from guaranteeing the most basic needs of humans by converting them to rights and then slowly guaranteeing needs not necessarily for existence as rights, as and when society has been able to gather the resources to provide for these needs.

Yet, questions remain. What is privacy? As pointed out by Roger Clarke, we use many words without exactly considering their meaning. When we use words such as 'eat' and 'zebra', it does not matter, but when we use words such as 'discrimination' and 'ethnicity', one cannot have a rational discussion without having a common understanding of the terms .

Furthermore, what do we mean by 'degree of privacy'? The standards of privacy vary very widely from culture to culture and therefore even the law must accordingly fit into the standards of the society. The standards of privacy which a person living in the densely populated slums of...