SC directive to Meta against sharing users’ details upholds right to privacy
For long, information had been a neglected aspect of human life, at least in India. Although there are scriptures and historical accounts as left behind by our ancestors, the country and its residents over the centuries have been indifferent towards archiving data. This in turn resulted in the unavailability of factual information pertaining to the history of the country. The Mughals did leave behind their historical accounts primarily written by court historians; however these official versions of the reigns were written to suit the rulers and often eulogiesed historic events. The British rulers, who followed the Mughals, did have an interest in archiving the material and hence accounts by Europeans as regards their visit to India during the British period, did survive giving us a clear idea of those times.
The Information Age that began in the mid-20th century witnessed rapid shift from traditional industries, as established during the Industrial Revolution, to an economy centred on information technology. Interestingly, the onset of the Information Age is linked to the development of the transistor in 1947, with this technological advancement having a significant impact on the way information is processed and transmitted. Today information – now referred to as data – has become as valuable, or even more precious than currency since it acts as the primary fuel for digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and machine learning, allowing organisations to convert raw information into actionable insights.
The Tuesday decision of the Supreme Court, wherein it stated that “it will not permit instant messaging platform WhatsApp and its parent company, Meta, to breach the right to privacy of millions of their silent consumers in India through the sharing and commercial exploitation of personal data”, is a clear effort to prevent the ‘lifting’ of unimaginably huge personal data. At one point during the hearing, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Justice Surya Kant, addressing Meta and WhatsApp, compared the sharing of private data to a “decent way of committing theft”, saying by now “you must have taken away millions of bytes of data”.
The stern warning from the apex court to the particular American technology company that owns major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, should be viewed seriously, especially with the discovery of company’s interference in the private life of its countless followers. Ironically, these followers include influential Presidents and Prime Ministers, top sportspersons and movie personalities, heads of leading corporate houses and many eminent individuals, apart from the ordinary mortals. Meta has its focus on building the ‘metaverse’ – its own universe – through virtual and augmented reality. Someone controlling the very existence of people through its enormous network is not a very comfortable idea. Meta however nurses the ambition to achieve this goal.
The direction of the Supreme Court to Meta against sharing users’ private data for targeted advertising, and further warning the company that citizens’ right to privacy could not be compromised for the business interests of a multinational corporation need to be welcomed by every user of Meta’s social media platforms. Social media can be compared to the mythical, multi-headed Hydra from the Greek mythology since much like the serpent, whenever either one of its platforms or piece of harmful content is removed, the same regenerates and multiplies across others. The hushed strategy of Meta has fortunately been discovered by the apex court while rightfully maintaining that “any commercial venture cannot be at the costs of the rights of the people of this country”.
