SC rejects ADR plea to get permit access to voters list in machine-readable voters list
Might compromise voters' privacy, says bench
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court has orally refused to permit making the machine-readable voters list available, clarifying that this might compromise the voters’ privacy.
The SC bench of Justices Surya Kant and Bagchi, heard on Tuesday the petitions challenging the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls, which will be held by the Election Commission of India’s (ECI) in Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and West Bengal, among other states, according to a report by LiveLaw.
The judges said that, as the Election Commission of India (ECI) held the voters’ data in trust, it had the right to adopt methods to ensure the data remained protected. The judges, however, directed the ECI to find password-protection techniques that give easy access to an individual but prevent unauthorized access.
Senior advocate Prashant Bhushan, who represented the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), said that the NGO had filed an interlocutory application seeking a direction to the ECI to provide the 2002 voters list in machine-readable format to help voters confirm if their parents’ names are included.
The lawyer also said that no prejudice would be caused if the ECI made the data available in searchable form.
Justice Bagchi, however, expressed privacy concerns regarding sharing of voters’ data in the format and, referring to an earlier case, said that electoral rolls need not be furnished in machine-readable format.
The judge said that, as it was a matter of privacy and data protection, making the machine-readable format could open doors to ‘data mining’ by third parties. Also, he said that the suggestion may be deliberated upon by the parties.
"Let's get the ECI's response on what kind of dangers it can pose", said Justice Kant.
"A prejudice is [per se]... data available at large for mining, irrespective of individuals, any agent... have to take into consideration the issues of individual privacy, collective protection of data of Indian citizens. This is not adversarial. It has a polycentric impact. Independent of the rights of a person who is seeking to vote, the data itself is a valuable asset. That the ECI is holding in trust. What you may suggest, and the ECI may consider, that the individual may have a password to access the data. That's how the individual can verify his data from the encrypted database of ECI. The data is valuable asset entrusted to the ECI. So ECI is entitled to have layers of privacy on the data", Justice Bagchi stated.
On Bhushan mentioning ADR's application seeking inter-alia electoral roll data in machine-readable form, the bench issued notice for the ECI to respond. The judges found "good" a suggestion made by ADR that de-duplication software available with ECI be used to tackle multiple entries of one individual in the rolls.
The Court sought the ECI's response to the application and posted the matter to November 26.
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Elephant calf brought from Bijnor kept under care at Pilibhit Tiger Reserve
Pilibhit (PTI): A 19-day-old elephant calf, brought from Bijnor, was placed under care at the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve (PTR) on Sunday, an official said and added that the calf got separated from its mother in the forest area of Bijnor.
The calf was born on December 2 in the Bijnor forest area and got separated from its mother shortly after birth, the official said.
The forest department made several attempts to reunite it with its mother, but without any success. To ensure the calf's safety and better care, it was decided to transfer it to the Pilibhit Tiger Reserve on the instructions of senior officials.
On Saturday, Deputy Director Manish Singh received the calf. Special arrangements have been made in the reserve for its care. It has been kept in a safe and clean environment to provide it with a natural setting and protect it from external noise and disturbances.
Singh told reporters that raising an 19-day-old calf is challenging.
It requires a special diet as a substitute for mother's milk and constant monitoring.
He said a special team has been formed to provide 24-hour care. Since the calf is very young, it is being cared for like a newborn baby.
According to Singh, the primary responsibility for monitoring the calf's health has been entrusted to PTR's veterinarian, Dr Daksh Gangwar. Under his supervision, a complete record of the calf's health checkups, diet, and body temperature is being maintained. The team is ensuring that the calf does not contract any infection.
