Is A Persons Address Public Information

Context: Recently Bombay High Court’s order of removing Right to Information (RTI) activists (Mr Gokhale) contact details from website raises questions privacy of citizens’ address.

Arguments against Individual’s address as public data:

• Threat to privacy: the information in question should be treated as private because its dis­ closure may lead to threats against the RTI applicant.
• Judicial Precedents: The Calcutta High Court Avishek Goenka v. Asish Kumar Roy (2013) ruled that the RTI Act does not require information seekers to disclose personal details except those which may be required for contacting him.
• Legislative provisions: The RTI Act protects the privacy of citizens but requires disclosure of information-bearing a nexus to the public activity under Section 8 (1)(j).

Individual Address as a piece of information:

• Not considered private under any Indian law:
  • Government telephone directories contain the name and addresses of every subscriber in city.
  • Electoral voter lists on website of the Election Commission displays addresses of all voters.
• Boosts public confidence in governance systems: by increasing transparency.
  • Land records, containing details of ownership, are open for public inspection.
  • All First Information Reports (FIRs) in cognisable cases display names and addresses of complainants and accuse. (mandated by Supreme Court).
  • The Jan Soochna Portal in Rajasthan makes available the details of all beneficiaries of all welfare schemes administered by the State.
  • Access to information about beneficiaries is critical to weed out ‘ghost beneficiaries’ (in Pubic Distribution System (PDS)), helping in combating corruption.
• Nexus to public activity: Applications for a government job, ration card, caste certificates are some examples of public activity.
  Public authority with possession of information (relating to public activity) during a raid or seizure is exempted from public disclosure like Medical records, or transactions with a public sector bank.

Conclusion: Questions such as privacy, which involve fundamental rights, must be dealt with not just on the basis of the consequences that may follow from the disclosure of their addresses but also first principles of the law.