Mahua Moitra-This Woman Is Stopping Politicians From Snooping In Your Privacy

In a day and age where our online privacy is being encroached upon by businesses and politicians alike, here is one woman who is fighting against it.

mahua moitra west bengal

In a day and age where our online privacy is being encroached upon by businesses and politicians alike, here is one woman who is fighting against it. And she is a politician herself. Mahua Moitra, an investment banker turned Trinamool Congress legislator from the Karimpur constituency of West Bengal, has filed 3 petitions against the social media and surveillance tactics of the Centre that are now lying with the Supreme Court. In an interview to Huffington Post, Mahua has revealed how got to know about a notice from the Information & Broadcasting Ministry that was inviting private agencies to help the govt keep an eye on social media accounts. This was a blatant violation of an individual’s right to privacy, says Mahua.

When she filed a petition against this in Supreme Court, she was informed that the proposal to monitor social media accounts was being withdrawn. While the Attorney General of India was informing the court about this, the UIDAI was still floating bids for the same which was shocking.

What Did She Petition Against?

mahua moitra petitions

  • Her first petition was against the UIDAI for trying to monitor social media to check the sentiments of people on Aadhaar
  • Her second petition was against Ministry of Home Affairs for its notice that enabled 10 government agencies to pre-emptively monitor, decrypt and even intercept any computer for prevention of any cognisable offence
  • Her third petition was to seek an interim stay on the surveillance of computers in West Bengal by the government

But she is not doing it for publicity as several other organisations are also seeking a stay on the activities that include governmental snooping. The Internet Freedom Foundation and People's Union for Civil Liberties have also filed petitions against the MHA order to set up surveillance hubs. Mahua says her constituency consists of people who may not even understand the ramifications of the invasion of data privacy so she not doing it to gain points politically but in a purely personal capacity as the masses will be on the receiving end of such invasion sooner or later.

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Information Technology Act, 2000

social media privacy govt

While the IT Act of the government of India allows the decryption of messages in case of public emergency, the scenario is pretty questionable which is why several petitions are being raised. According to Wikipedia:

“The Section 69 allows intercepting any information and ask for information decryption. To refuse decryption is an offence. The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885 allows the government to tap phones. But, according to a 1996 Supreme Court verdict the government can tap phones only in case of a "public emergency". But, there is no such restriction on Section 69. On 20 December 2018, the Ministry of Home Affairs cited Section 69 in the issue of an order authorising ten central agencies to intercept, monitor, and decrypt “any information generated, transmitted, received or stored in any computer.” While some claim this to be a violation of the fundamental right to privacy, the Ministry of Home Affairs has claimed its validity on the grounds of national security.”

What’s your take on this? Do you think the government is doing the right thing by looking at our private data to assess threats or is this invasion of data a threat to our privacy? Let us know in the comment section on our Facebook page.

To know what to do in case of cyberstalking or about women’s safety laws, keep reading Her Zindagi.

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