Lok Sabha MP Asaduddin Owaisi has written to the Registrar General of India opposing proposed amendments to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act. Through the amendments, the government wants to use birth and death data to update the National Population Register (NPR), Aadhaar, and other databases. https://twitter.com/asadowaisi/status/1466667799351230464?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw In his letter, Owaisi has invoked the principle of purpose limitation (i.e. using data only for the purpose for which it was collected) and the right to privacy. "There is no legitimate public interest that is served by such centralization of databases," Owaisi argued in the letter. Registered births and deaths are currently only recorded by state governments. Critics including Owaisi fear that this amendment is a step towards the creation of the highly controversial National Register of Citizens (NRC) and 360-degree profiles of Indian citizens. Proposed amendments have no benefits, violate citizen rights: Owaisi In his letter, Owaisi highlighted several concerns with the proposed amendment, broadly alleging that it violates the right to privacy: Principle of purpose limitation: "Inter-linking and centralising such diverse databases violates the principle of purpose limitation, which is at the heart of the right to privacy," Owaisi wrote. The principle states that data collected for one purpose with informed consent should not be used for any other purpose, he explained. Protection from excessive collection of data: The amendment violates the principle against excessive collection by "using a database meant for births and deaths for the updation of unrelated and unconnected databases," Owaisi argued. Failing the Puttaswamy test:…
