The Supreme Court inK S Puttaswamy v Union of India has acknowledged the existence of a fundamental right to privacy. This judgment will have an impact on the protection of individual data, especially in the context of the constitutionality of the Aadhaar Act, currently under challenge before the apex court.A response is offered by conceptualising “data as property” and adopting a data protection law in line with international best practices. Also, its ramifications on cross-border data transfers and international diplomacy, a question of vital interest in an increasingly digitised world, are highlighted.
