Violating privacy
Aadhaar logo. Credit: Flickr
By Vritika Mathur
Introduced by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Aadhaar cards have been a matter of contention for a very long time. The leaking of Aadhaar data continues to raise concerns over privacy and security, especially in the era of the newly recognised right to privacy.
Supreme Court statement
In light of the leaking of private information, the Supreme Court announced on Tuesday that the sharing of personal biometric and demographic information on the transgender community in particular or any other sexual minority puts them at risk of “violence, surveillance and harassment.” Many citizens, such as former Karnataka High Court Judge K.S. Puttuswamy, Magsaysay awardee Shanta Sinha, feminist researcher Kalyani Sen Menon and others, are petitioning the Supreme Court over the government’s Aadhaar Act. A five-judge bench that consists of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.K. Sikri, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice Ashok Bhushan will hear these petitions.
Revealing the private details of minority communities without explicit consent opens them up to many dangers at the hands of prejudiced sections of society. The compulsory disclosure of gender identity as part of the Aadhar programme is a violation of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution that “provides for equality before the law & equal protection within the territory of India and prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, or any of them”. According to the NGO Swatantra, “Once the personal demographic details of transgender and sexual minorities are declared, it exposes them to surveillance, violence, and discrimination including infringement of their fundamental right to life and liberty, equality, free speech and movement.”
Previous attempts at prosecution
There are still several repressive laws on the statute books that suppress minority communities on the sole basis of their gender identity. One such law is the Karnataka Police Act, which prohibits eunuchs from partaking in any activity that the police commissioner would deem undesirable. Another law along similar lines is the Telangana Eunuchs Act, that permits the arrest of transgender persons if found donning female clothing, singing, dancing, participating in a public event or being found in the company of a boy below the age of 16 without a warrant. Laws such as these are inhuman and unconstitutional as they infringe upon fundamental rights, such as the right to life, privacy, and human dignity.
Appearing on behalf of Swatantra, Advocate Jayana Kothari referred the statutes: “These laws continue to enable the State to target and prosecute (people from the) transgender community solely on the basis of their gender identity.” She called the Telangana Eunuchs Act a “draconian colonial legislation” which validates unlawful action by the state, such as arrests based on gender identity. She further asserted that there is a pressing need to review the existing legislation. Instances of leaked information on the transgender community in the past have more often than not resulted in oppression and discrimination against the community in India.
