Justice K.S.Puttaswamy(Retd) vs Union Of India on 26 September, 2018 (i) Privacy has always been a natural right: The correct position in this behalf has been established by a number of judgments starting from Gobind v. State of M.P.28 Various opinions conclude that: (a) privacy is a concomitant of the right of the individual to exercise control over his or her personality. (b) Privacy is the necessary condition precedent to the enjoyment of any of the guarantees in Part III. (c) The fundamental right to privacy would cover at least three aspects (i) intrusion with an individuals physical body, (ii) informational privacy, and (iii) privacy of choice. (d) One aspect of privacy is the right to control the dissemination of personal information. And that every individual should have a right to be able to control exercise over his/her own life and image as portrayed in the world and to control commercial use of his/her identity. Following passages from different opinions reflect the aforesaid proposition: Dr. D.Y. Chandrachud, J.: 42. Privacy is a concomitant of the right of the individual to exercise control over his or her personality. It finds an origin in the notion that there are certain rights which are natural to or inherent in a human being. Natural rights are inalienable because they are inseparable from the human personality. The human element in life is impossible to conceive without the existence of natural rights. In 1690, John Lockehad in his Second Treatise of Government observed that the lives, liberties and estates of individuals 28 (1975) 2 SCC 148 are as a matter of fundamental natural law, a private preserve. The idea of a private preserve was to create barriers from outside interference. In 1765, William Blackstone in his Commentaries on the Laws of England spoke of a natural liberty. There were, in his view, absolute rights which were vested in the individual by the immutable laws of nature. These absolute rights were divided into rights of personal security, personal liberty and property. The right of personal security involved a legal and uninterrupted enjoyment of life, limbs, body, health and reputation by an individual. xx xx xx 46. Natural rights are not bestowed by the State. They inhere in human beings because they are human. They exist equally in the individual irrespective of class or strata, gender or orientation. xx xx xx 318. Life and personal liberty are inalienable rights. These are rights which are inseparable from a dignified human existence. The dignity of the individual, equality between human beings and the quest for liberty are the foundational pillars of the Indian Constitution. Indian Kanoon - http://indiankanoon.org/doc/127517806/ 61