Aadhaar will have to meet privacy test: Rajeev Chandrasekhar

Aadhaar legislation will have to meet the test of privacy, Rajya Sabha MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar today said while hailing the apex court verdict on issue as a milestone in the evolution of Indian democracy.
Chandrasekhar, who had intervened in the hearing held to decide whether right to privacy was a fundamental right, said the verdict was a first step towards evolving a new legal eco-system.
"It is clear that Aadhaar and all other legislations existing and proposed will have to meet the test of privacy being a fundamental right," he said in a statement.
The vice chairman of NDA in Kerala also said that the move not only accorded legal rights for digital consumers and citizens of the country, but also paved the way for amendments to legislations that have overlooked citizens' rights to privacy.

"This verdict sets to rest the three-and-a-half years of quibbling and story-telling we have had around Aadhaar and other digital platforms that used to bring consumers into the digital ecosystem without any accountability on the part of the platforms," he said.
Chandrasekhar, a nominated member to the upper house of Parliament, had in 2013 filed a petition against Aadhaar in the top court challenging its weak architecture and the lack of protection for the data of the citizens of India.
"Both in Parliament and in my petition to the apex court, I have repeatedly stated privacy is a fundamental right with reasonable restrictions like most fundamental rights in our Constitution.

"The right to free speech is also subjected to restrictions, that privacy is not an absolute right and in case of threats to national security for example, I have stated that right to privacy can be infringed upon if the police and authorities have reasons to believe certain individuals have been involved in criminal or terrorist activities," he added.