STOP DISCLOSURE

In the midst of an important meeting when you are just about to raise an important point, the phone

rings. Could be urgent, you feel, and take a walk to a relatively quiet corner of the conference hall. You say ‘hallo’ in a whisper. And there she goes with her ‘good evening, sir’ trying to sell a credit card or load you with an unwanted loan. It’s as though the door-to-door toothpaste selling had reached the next level. If you have wondered as to how they got hold of your number, the answer is pretty straight – from your service provider. And if that makes you fume in anger at their lack of respect for your privacy, you are not alone. Most of the cell phone users are on the same telemarketing-wrecked boat. Subscribers normally ignore such calls to a large extent but the problem assumed such alarming proportions that the Supreme Court had to direct the concerned authorities to work out a solution by which a subscriber gets to decide if he or she wants to take such calls or not.

Recently, Delhi State Consumer Redressal Forum by an order restrained all the cell phone service providers from sharing the telephone numbers and other details about their subscribers with unauthorized persons including the banks or other financial institutions, as it is in breach of the Privacy Statement and undertaking.

The complaint was filed by one Nivedita Sharma, who having subscribed to Airtel in post paid category in 2000, started getting unsolicited marketing calls from numerous companies including American Express and ICICI Bank. She ignored them initially but the frequency and number of calls kept increasing, and a time came when she would get as many as ten to fifteen calls a day at all hours besides numerous SMSes. Even her written complaints to her service provider and both the banks proved to be of no help. Finally, she lodged a complaint (CC-09/2006) under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. The Commission headed by Justice J. D. Kapoor held that the practice of providing the customer details to unauthorized persons prima facie violated Privacy statement and undertaking and for that the licence of the service provider could be cancelled.

In fact, even if there was no privacy statement or undertaking, the question of the right to privacy could very well arise, for the right exists independent of any contractual or statutory obligation. Right to privacy is an implied fundamental right under Article 21 and cannot be, therefore, taken away even by a statutory enactment on any ground other than those expressly specified under the provision itself. The underlying principle of the right to privacy is that every man has the right to keep all such aspects of his or her life private that do not in any way affect or concern others. The disclosure of one’s personal details, like phone number, financial standing etc., is a clear violation of one’s right to privacy unless it serves a crucial public purpose. Even in absence of a privacy statement disclosing a subscriber’s personal information could be very difficult to defend, much more so when there is a privacy statement and a declaration is already in place. Keeping all aspects in view, there is only one thing the service providers can do in this respect – STOP.