Privacy vs Public Interest

Privacy vs Public Interest

Thanks to Wikileaks and Radia tapes, there has been a huge furore and a raging controversy about where Privacy ends and Public Interest begins.

In the middle of all this, I came across a rather surprising statement from our Home Minister Mr. Chidambaram, who is, in my opinion, a suave, intelligent, smart, sensible political leader. I'm quoting the gist of his statement in the context of Mr. Ratan Tata's concern about the leaks of what is apparently a private conversation (that appeared in the Chennai edition of THE HINDU a couple of days back) from memory:

• "In such cases of phone-tapping, some collateral damage is unavoidable. While we don't condone such leaks, all of us must be aware that such leaks do occur".

Oops! I can't believe that Mr. Chidambaram, of all the people, is having such an opinion.

• Pray, why should anyone tolerate such leaks to the media?
• When a phone is tapped in accordance with law, it is usually for a specific purpose. Nobody has any business to either leak such information or allow such leaks or tolerate such leaks.
• If, in the process of such tapping, the authorities come across material which could be of interest to some other arm of the government, necessary approvals must be obtained by following the prescribed procedure and then such information should be shared with the other arm of the government.
• Similarly, if public interest is involved and any specific information ought to be shared with the general public, appropriate procedures for the same should be followed and only then, the information must be released to the media as a whole, and not to any individual journalist or media organisation in an unauthorised manner.

There are other moral hazards in the statement of Mr. Chidambaram. Other agencies may start making similar claims for release of confidential information. Some interesting examples could include:

• The patent office releasing information obtained in confidence prior to registering patents
• Income Tax authorities could release income details of VIPs and information about non-filing of returns by specific individuals / political parties
• Custodians of critical data like stock exchanges, depositaries, banks, financial institutions, share brokers, insurance companies, hospitals, etc. can release all kinds of information that is available with them in the due course of discharging their respective functions, but which are supposed to be kept confidential.

Mr. Chidambaram, I repeat myself for emphasis - Any information that is obtained in accordance with the law of the land - whether by tapping phones or through any other means - ought to be used exclusively for the intended purpose. Any deviation from this MUST be duly authorised and be an exception. Leaks are bad in law and unethical to boot.

Regards,

N

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