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against societal demands of homogeneity. Privacy is
an intrinsic recognition of heterogeneity, of the right of
the individual to be different and to stand against the
tide of conformity in creating a zone of solitude.
Privacy protects the individual from the searching
glare of publicity in matters which are personal to his
or her life. Privacy attaches to the person and not to
the place where it is associated. Privacy constitutes
the foundation of all liberty because it is in privacy
that the individual can decide how liberty is best
exercised. Individual dignity and privacy are
inextricably linked in a pattern woven out of a thread
of diversity into the fabric of a plural culture.
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402. “Privacy” is “[t]he condition or state of being free
from public attention to intrusion into or interference
with one's acts or decisions” [Black's Law
Dictionary (Bryan Garner Edition) 3783 (2004)] . The
right to be in this condition has been described as
“the right to be let alone” [ Samuel D. Warren and
Louis D. Brandeis, “The Right To Privacy”, 4 Harv L
Rev 193 (1890)] . What seems to be essential to
privacy is the power to seclude oneself and keep
others from intruding it in any way. These intrusions
may be physical or visual, and may take any of several
forms including peeping over one's shoulder to
eavesdropping directly or through instruments,
devices or technological aids.
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479. Both the learned Attorney General and Shri
Sundaram next argued that the right to privacy is so
vague and amorphous a concept that it cannot be held
to be a fundamental right. This again need not detain
us. Mere absence of a definition which would
encompass the many contours of the right to privacy
need not deter us from recognising privacy interests
when we see them. As this judgment will presently
show, these interests are broadly classified into