Abstract:
Privacy is recognised as fundamental civil liberty worldwide. Though the articulation of
‘Right to Privacy’ is found strongly in the West, India too, with growing awareness about
privacy and its importance, is working towards the privacy protection. With computers,
smart phones and internet becoming the tools of daily interaction, protection of privacy in
the cyberspace takes prominent space.
Healthcare facilities in a developing economy plays an important role. It is often
observed that in a less developed economy, there exists a trade-off between healthcare
facilities and privacy of an individual. Whereas in a developed economy, health
information breach and theft of personal health information for financial gains is a growing
criminal activity. This study tries to understand, how medical information privacy is
different and important when compared to other personal information.
This research studies the legislations in the United States, the European Union and
India about privacy and data protection and compares the comprehensiveness of the laws
with respect to the globally recognised best practices on privacy and data protection. The
study also tries to understand the laxity in the Indian system when it comes to privacy and
its protection. The study tries to understand this from the lens of culture, individual identity
and judicial precedents. This research highlights the grey areas in the present Indian law
which needs to be looked into when drafting a new privacy legislation
