-The Times of India BENGALURU: Contrary to the Centre's claims, contracts signed with foreign firms by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), custodian of Aadhaar data, show that they got "full access" to classified data including fingerprints, iris scan info, and personal information like date of birth, address and mobile number of the applicants. They were also allowed to store the data for seven years. This was revealed through an RTI...

-The Times of India Over a million Ashas and Ushas across the country are restive and angry, but nobody is listening to them. Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA) and its urban counterpart known as USHA, are the business end of the gigantic public health apparatus run by the central and state governments. They are in every village, they visit every home, know every mother, every child, and they are the first 'port...

-The Times of India NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court ruling on right to privacy being a fundamental right could lead to an uncertain impact on right to information as some Activists and experts are warning that the order could leave RTI facing new challenges. Former chief information commissioner A N Tiwari said, "Privacy has been addressed by the RTI Act, under sections 8(1)(j) and Section 11. However, the fact is that there...

-Hindustan Times The judgment in Puttaswamy takes privacy far beyond the confines of Article 21 and weaves it into other fundamental rights such as the freedom of conscience, the freedom of assembly and the freedom of occupation. Fundamental rights were once described by the Supreme Court as “empty vessels into which each generation must pour its content in light of its experience” (PUCL v Union of India (2003) 4 SCC 399). Close to...

-The Telegraph New Delhi: Advocates of transparency have a new worry amid the euphoria over the privacy verdict - the possibility of information commissioners citing the new fundamental right to deny answers under the Right to Information (RTI) Act. As it is, RTI Activists have had to contend with commissioners using Section 8(1)(j) of the RTI Act to refuse information on the premise that it infringes upon a person's privacy. The section...