[JURIST] A nine-judge panel of the Supreme Court of India [official website] ruled [judgment, PDF] Thursday that privacy is a “constitutionally protected value.” The ruling could have drastic consequences for the government—particularly the country’s biometric identification program, Aadhaar [official website]. The judgment outlined the history of privacy and fundamental rights, not only in India but other countries as well. The court overruled two previous court rulings on privacy and stated that privacy is a “constitutional core of human dignity.”

Privacy has been a hot topic around the world in recent months. Last month a US federal district judge allowed [JURIST report] President Donald Trump’s election commission to move forward by dismissing the need for a prior privacy impact assessment before collecting voter data. In June Japan’s parliament passed [JURIST report] a controversial “anti-conspiracy” bill aimed at improving security and combating terrorism that critics claim will violate privacy rights. Also in June the UN Human Rights Committee found [JURIST report] that Ireland infringed a woman’s right to equality and privacy when it forced her to travel to the UK to receive an abortion when diagnosed with fatal fetal syndrome.