SC Urges Government to Prevent Misuse of Data by Private Entities

NEW DELHI, Aug 25: The Supreme Court has raised concerns over the alleged access and commercial use of sensitive personal information held by government authorities, observing that private entities should not be allowed to misuse data submitted by individuals under statutory requirements.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was hearing a Public Interest Litigation filed by Piyush Sharma concerning the alleged availability of sensitive employment and financial information through private verification platforms.

The court observed that the issue largely falls within the policy domain but expressed concern over private access to sovereign data, particularly information that citizens are required to provide to government agencies under various laws.

The petitioner told the court that his personal inquiry had allegedly shown that employment related information could be retrieved from a private verification system by providing PAN and UAN details. He claimed that the process did not involve OTP authentication, explicit consent or any visible authorisation based identity verification.

The petition highlighted concerns over the security of individual information maintained under statutory frameworks governing institutions such as the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation and income tax authorities.

According to the petitioner, private employment verification platforms may increasingly rely on information corresponding to official employment and financial records for activities including employment verification, detection of dual employment, moonlighting checks, labour market profiling and employment related decision making.

The petitioner clarified that his concerns did not amount to an allegation against government agencies of directly leaking the information. Instead, he sought attention to the possibility of private entities accessing data submitted to authorities for legally mandated purposes.

The Supreme Court described the matter as serious while noting that addressing the broader issue would require appropriate policy measures.

After being informed that the petitioner had submitted two detailed representations to the Centre, the bench asked the government to examine the concerns and take necessary measures to prevent the misuse of individual information by private enterprises.

The court’s observations underline the growing need for stronger safeguards around sensitive government held data, particularly as private technology platforms increasingly use digital verification systems for employment and other commercial purposes.