Editing Right to privacy (section)

=== India ===
{{main|Right to Privacy verdict|Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023}}

The new [[data sharing]] policy of WhatsApp with Facebook after Facebook acquired WhatsApp in 2014 has been challenged in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court must decide if the right to privacy can be enforced against private entities.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://scobserver.clpr.org.in/cases/whatsapp-facebook-privacy-case/|title=Whatsapp-Facebook Privacy Case – Supreme Court Observer|work=Supreme Court Observer|access-date=5 January 2018|language=en-US}}</ref>

The [[Supreme Court of India|Indian Supreme Court]] with nine-judge bench under [[Jagdish Singh Khehar|JS Khehar]], [[Right to Privacy verdict|ruled on 24 August 2017]], that the right to privacy is a fundamental right for Indian citizens per Article 21 of the Constitution and additionally under Part III rights. Specifically, the court adopted the three-pronged test required for the encroachment of any Article 21 right – legality{{snd}}i.e. through an existing law; necessity, in terms of a legitimate state objective and proportionality, that ensures a rational nexus between the object of the invasion and the means adopted to achieve that object.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rajagopal |first=Krishnadas |date=2017-08-24 |title=Right to privacy inherently protected under fundamental freedoms in Constitution: Supreme Court |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/privacy-is-a-fundamental-right-under-article-21-rules-supreme-court/article62042245.ece |access-date=2022-09-24 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref>

This clarification was crucial to prevent the dilution of the right in the future on the whims and fancies of the government in power.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://thewire.in/170988/right-to-privacy-supreme-court-2/|title=For the Many and the Few: What a Fundamental Right to Privacy Means for India |website=The Wire|access-date=31 March 2018}}</ref> The Court adopted a liberal interpretation of the fundamental rights to meet the challenges posed an increasing digital age. It held that individual liberty must extend to digital spaces and individual autonomy and privacy must be protected.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Supreme Court Observer |url=https://www.scobserver.in/court-case/fundamental-right-to-privacy/judgement-of-the-supreme-court-in-plain-english-i|access-date=8 July 2020|website=scobserver.in}}</ref>

This ruling by the Supreme Court paved the way for decriminalization of homosexuality in India on 6 September 2018, thus legalizing same-sex sexual intercourse between two consenting adults in private.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thequint.com/india/2017/08/24/supreme-court-verdict-right-to-privacy|title=Too Lazy to Read Right to Privacy Ruling? Here's the TL;DR Version|work=The Quint|access-date=25 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> India is the world's biggest democracy and with this ruling, it has joined United States, Canada, South Africa, the European Union, and the UK in recognizing this fundamental right.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://andhrastar.com/india-privacy-fundamental-right/|title=Andhrastar – Breaking News, Andhra News, Telangana News, India News, Bollywood, Tollywood News, World News|website=andhrastar.com|language=en-us|access-date=25 August 2017}}</ref>

India's Data Protection law is known as [[Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023]].