Trai believes in privacy rights, says RS Sharma

NEW DELHI: Telecom regulator RS Sharma has said that the authority believes in privacy rights, which was the reason for floating a consultation paper on security, privacy and ownership of data earlier this month.

While not directly commenting on the Supreme Court judgment on Thursday, which declared privacy to be a fundamental right, ‘protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty’, the chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ( Trai) said that the rights of the ownership of data were critical issues in today’s world, and were being recognised by international bodies.

“We have always believed that privacy, and the rights of ownership of data of the owner, that's the reason why we started this consultation paper,” he said.

The regulator issued a consultation paper on August 9, aimed at assessing whether the data rights of mobile phone users are adequately protected, and identify key issues pertaining to data protection in relation to delivery of digital services, including telecom and data services, as well as devices, networks and applications that collect and control data generated by users through telcos.

The regulator has argued that government intervention was needed in data protection and ownership “to prevent harm to consumers”, and added that consumers typically underestimate the value of personal data and the impact of agreeing to share it, while service providers benefit by acquiring and holding on to such data.

While the paper, which came at a time when the apex court was looking into the issue of privacy, was criticised by carriers for being more over-arching than necessary, it is being taken into consideration by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).