The court emphasized the necessity of informed consent and accountability in data collection during political membership drives, linking it to the right to privacy under Article 21.

ORDER

S.M.SUBRAMANIAM, J.

The issue raised in the current Writ Petition is pertaining to a campaign, namely, “Oraniyil Tamil Nadu , which is a mass membership drive organized across the State of Tamil Nadu by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam/the fifth respondent, a recognized political party.

2. In this door-to-door membership drive, personal information, including mobile numbers, are obtained and OTP verification messages are sent to these mobile numbers. There is a concern of data breach of these individuals. Data protection of the individuals is an essential element of Article 21 .

3. In the absence of accountability and transparency in the data collected from individuals across the State of Tamil Nadu for the “Oraniyil Tamil Nadu” conducted by door-to-door membership drive conducted is an issue which needs elaborate analysis. This data could potentially be used by third party Companies, who are managing the data for the political parties and serious concerns on privacy is at forefront in this current Public Interest Litigation.

4. It is not made clear what are all the infrastructures made available for collection and protection of individual datas in this membership drive.

5. Data protection and voter data privacy are the essential facets of Article 21 of the Constitution of India and falls within the ambit of right to privacy. Also, the Constitution Bench of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India in the case ofAssociation for Democratic Reforms and others vs. Union of India (UOI) and others, reported in 2024 INSC 113 : 2024 2 Supreme 342, kkheld as follows:

“134.the expression of political beliefs is guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a). Forming political beliefs and opinion is the first stage of political expression. The freedom of political expression cannot be exercised freely in the absence of privacy of political affiliation. Information about a person’s political beliefs can be used by the State at a political level, to suppress dissent, and at a personal level, to discriminate by denying employment or subjecting them to trolls. The lack of privacy of political affiliation would also disproportionately affect those whose political views do not match the views of the mainstream.

135........

136.Information about a person's political affiliation can be used to dis-enfranchise voters through voter surveillance. Voter databases which are developed through surveillance identify voting patterns of the electors and attempt to interfere with their opinions based on the information. For example, the data of online purchase histories such as the books purchased (which would indicate the ideological leaning of the individual), clothing brands used (which would indicate the social class to which the individual belongs) or the news consumed or the newspapers subscribed (which would indicate the political leanings or ideologies) can be used to draw on the relative political affiliation of people. This information about the political affiliation of individuals can then be used to influence their votes. Voter surveillance gains particular significance when fewer people have attachments to political parties.

137.At a systemic level, information secured through voter surveillance could be used to invalidate the foundation of the electoral system. Information about political affiliation could be used to engage in gerry-mandering, the practice by which constituencies are delimited based on the electoral preference of the voters.

138.Informational privacy to political affiliation is necessary to protect the freedom of political affiliation and exercise of electoral franchise. Thus, it follows from the judgment of this Court Justice KS Puttaswamy (9J) (supra) and the observations above that the Constitution guarantees the right to informational privacy of political affiliation.”

6. Information about the personal political affiliation can be used to dis-enfranchise voters through voters surveillance. The digital membership drives conducted by the political p