New Delhi: Privacy of children requires special protection in a digital age so they are not subjected to consequences of their mistakes and naivety, the Supreme Court today said.
Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, in his 47-page separate but concurring judgement holding that right to privacy is a fundamental right, also observed that children are perpetually creating digital footprints on social networking websites as they learn their ABCs – “Apple, Bluetooth and Chat”.
“Children around the world create perpetual digital footprints on social network websites on a 24/7 basis as they learn their ‘ABCs’: Apple, Bluetooth, and Chat followed by Download, E-Mail, Facebook, Google, Hotmail, and Instagram.
“They should not be subjected to the consequences of their childish mistakes and naivety their entire life.
Privacy of children will require special protection not just in the context of the virtual world, but also the real world,” Justice Kaul said.
The judge observed that technology results almost in a sort of a permanent storage in some way or the other making it difficult to begin life again giving up past mistakes.
“People are not static, they change and grow through their lives. They evolve. They make mistakes. But they are entitled to re-invent themselves and reform and correct their mistakes. It is privacy which nurtures this ability and removes the shackles of unadvisable things which may have been done in the past,” he said.
A nine-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar ruled that “right to privacy is an intrinsic part of Right to Life and Personal Liberty under Article 21 and entire Part III of the Constitution”.
