Data is the oil of digital economy. There are too many people trying to mine your sensitive information without consent. Be it big data companies, internet giants or governments, heavy investments—in terms of money and efforts—are being made to ‘listen’ to what people are buying and sharing online.
Is data that precious? According to a study conducted by Stanford University researcher Aleecia McDonald, an individual’s data, combined with purchasing habits, is worth around $1,200. It has become so intrinsic to the revenue models of some companies that earlier this month Google admitted to having secretly tracked nearly 70 per cent of all US consumers’ offline purchases, including credit and debit card information, as part of its new advertising programme. Despite strong privacy laws, countries like the US are grappling to handle such cases. It’s at this juncture that the Supreme Court has given India a much-delayed but essential start.
For India, a case of similar interest is what the omnipresent WhatsApp does with our data. A five-judge bench of the SC is currently hearing a petition challenging WhatsApp’s right to share user information with its parent Facebook. It’s suspected that the company has already handed over information of nearly 160 million users to the social media giant. The verdict of the nine-judge bench has revived hope for protection of data in this case.
While theft of data for commercial gains is one half of the problem, the other significant half is the possibility of its misuse by the government. Activists have raised fears over Aadhaar, alleging the biometric information could be misused to track dissenters. On this issue, the court said: “It must be realised that it is the right to question ... and the right to dissent which enables an informed citizenry to scrutinise the actions of government.” The observations give hope of “reasonable restrictions” being imposed by the court on Aadhaar to ensure institutions don’t wield excessive data-power over the public.