Supreme Court warns of risks in private access to tax and pension data

A three-judge bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana, on Monday expressed alarm at the emergence of a commercial technology ecosystem that appears to be accessing and retrieving sensitive personal data from EPFO and income tax records.

The court termed the situation "worrisome" while considering a public interest petition that raised concerns about private entities commercially exploiting individual information furnished to government authorities under legal requirements. The bench acknowledged that data protection and privacy safeguards constitute an important policy matter requiring urgent attention.

While declining to entertain the petition directly, Chief Justice Kant suggested that the Union government should work with domain experts to devise an effective regulatory mechanism that prevents the unauthorized commercial use of such sensitive records. The court stopped short of issuing directions but indicated that the Centre must address the emerging gap in data protection protocols.

The petition highlighted how personal financial information, collected by government agencies through statutory mandates, could be accessed and monetized by private technology companies without adequate oversight or consent from individuals. The Supreme Court's observations underscore growing judicial concern about data privacy in India, particularly regarding information held by government bodies.