Prime Minister Manmohan Singh raised some concerns on possible infringement of an individual’s right to privacy while making data available under the Right to Information Act. In the seven years that RTI has been in force, over a million people have used it to access data they were earlier denied, and many believe it is an ordinary citizen’s only lifeline ensuring accountability in our system of governance. There is some surprise, and concern, over the PM’s strong defence of an individual’s right to privacy when he said “the citizens’ right to know should definitely be circumscribed if disclosure of information encroaches on someone’s personal privacy.”
When the state has invested itself with sweeping powers that automatically curb citizens’ freedoms in multiple areas, in order to further public interest, it is a little strange to put the right to privacy on a pedestal. Privacy concerns simply can’t be used to suppress disclosure of information, particularly financial data on use of state funds. The commission examining these aspects must consider the larger interest while determining what can or cannot be disclosed under RTI.
Many issues can be tackled with common sense, such as the question of “frivolous” petitions the PM referred to where no larger public interest is involved. But the very idea of furthering grassroots democracy, for which RTI was ushered in by the UPA in its early days, should not be whittled down simply because it has begun hitting the interests of a privileged few. That would be a pity.