Internet Privacy and Bangladesh Constitution
Dr. Zulfiquar Ahmed
Article 43 of Bangladesh Constitution.
Protection of home and correspondence.
Every citizen shall have the right, subject to any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interests of the security of the State, public order, public morality or public health-
(a) to be secured in his home against entry, search and seizure; and
(b) to the privacy of his correspondence and other means of communication.
The right to privacy is an integral part of the fundamental right to life under article 43 of the Constitution of Bangladesh. There is no comprehensive legislation on privacy in our country. We do not even have a specific law on privacy like a lot of other countries. As such it has been left to the judicially to interpret privacy within existing legislation. But Bangladeshi first (Draft) Cyberlaw named ‘the Information and Communication Technology Bill, 2005’ does not define privacy. Thus, privacy is known as a "penumbra right" in a case of Schmerber v. California.
The right to privacy in Internet activity is a serious issue facing society. Some users of the net wish to shield their identities while participating in frank discussions of sensitive topics. Others fulfill fantasies and harmlessly role-play under the cover of a false identity in chatrooms, MUDs or the IRC. Privacy is one of the most contentious legal issues arising in cyberspace. Just as in the actual word, privacy is of extreme importance to not only an individual netizen but also corporations and Governments. For the present, privacy of the individual netizens has acquired critical relevance. Cyberlaw can tackle this ticklish issue. An individual netizen should be given the liberty to move court in Bangladesh for monetary damages for violation of their individual privacy. However unfortunately, in Bangladesh, awareness about privacy is at a very low level in the actual world, leave aside Cyberspace. It is important that the government should legislate about privacy in Cyberspace. Websites must be mandated to follow strict guidelines on various issues concerning individual privacy. Since no formal law exists within cyberspace, Internet users can find remedy only through the applicable laws of their own government. This writing will not attempt to discuss conflict of law in the international arena, but will address Bangladeshi law and its relevance to the Bangladeshi Internet user.
These are various invasions of privacy exist in Bangladesh, i.e., search and seizure, unsolicited e-mail, defamation, secrecy and the creation of databases consisting of personal information. I shall discuss two aspects of invasion of privacy as it applies to Bangladeshi netizens (the Internet users called netizens not citizens).
The Bangladesh Constitution guaranteed the protection against entry, search and seizure in home by the Art. 43(a) when there is a reasonable expectation of privacy. Without a reasonable expectation of privacy, however, there is no privacy right to protect and this right may suspend for any reasonable restrictions imposed by law in the interests of the security of the State, public order, public morality or public health.
Files stored on disk or tapes in the home are protected, but the provision becomes less clear when applied to files stored on an Internet access provider's server. It is note that no reasonable expectation of privacy exists for any Internet activity. On the other hand, other countries’ laws may protect web servers. So, netizens of these countries have a lot of privacy that they expect. Some argue that consent of the access provider, however, is all that is required for law enforcement authorities to search and seize any files in the possession of that access provider. Internet service providers may have a lot of information about the users because servers routinely record information about users' e-mail and web browsing habits.
A netizen receives an unsolicited email, that itself contributes a violation of individual's privacy. Laws of Bangladesh do not regulate unsolicited email at present. Various nations have outlawed unsolicited commercial email. The Federal Trade Commission determined that Geocities, a popular web site where users input personal information, was selling information in apparent violation of its own privacy policy. America OnLine has been accused of selling data based information about users. The stolen information is then invariably sold to different companies who then send unsolicited emails to the email addresses of different persons. All these varied endeavours are a grave violation of individual privacy.
Trade secrets and other confidential information can also pose legal problems. Unauthorized entry into a computer system is illegal, whether the target machine is connected to the Internet or not. Some software can tell webmasters which visitors came from which links. In addition, all e-mail has an address attached. Even if the message content is encrypted, system administrators have access to the fact of communication between two parties. The existence of communication can itself often becomes secret, and the Internet cannot provide absolute security. In many ways, the Internet abhors secrecy. Many netizens believe in an absolute free-flow of all information.
Internet users sometimes do not realize the amount of privacy that is lost when accessing the online world. Public records are available free or for a fee. While much of this information has been freely available in the past, the advent of the Internet has made it available more easily and quickly. Generally, there is no safety in activity that is unlawful.
[Dr.Zulfiquar Ahmed is Associate Professor, Department of Law & Justice, University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.]
The Constitution Of India Privacy Under Article 21
Article 21 of the Constitution of India is given the protection of privacy
Article 21. Protection Of Life And Personal Liberty: No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.
