PRIVATE AND CONTROVERSIAL: When Public Health and Privacy Meet in India

vandana.rathore@harpercollins.co.in | 22 December 2022

HarperCollins

presents

PRIVATE AND CONTROVERSIAL

When Public Health and Privacy Meet in India

by Smriti Parsheera

After the Great Influenza of 1918, a century later COVID-19 brought the world to a halt similarly. The pandemic has illustrated how actions taken for the management of a public health emergency -collection of health data, contact tracing, mandatory testing, vaccine passports, among others can significantly affect an individual’s liberty, dignity and privacy

Written by academics and experts in varied fields, the book offers a nuanced understanding of the intersection between individual privacy and public health.

Paperback | Non-fiction| Health | 428 pp | Rs 699

Available Wherever Books Are Sold | Releasing Jan 2023

***

Smriti Parsheera, says, “The fields of privacy and public health constantly cross paths, across areas like sanitation, reproductive choices, patient confidentiality, and the growing use of fitness apps. But it sometimes takes an emergency situation like COVID for us to wake up and take note. The ongoing wave of datafication and digitization in the health sector adds further layers of complexity to the relationship. The essays in this book illustrate what happens when public health and privacy meet in the Indian context, the tensions and complementarity between them, and why we need to have this conversation, in peace time as well as public health emergencies.”

***

ABOUT THE BOOK

Epidemics are often likened to war-like situations that can bring even the mightiest of nations to their knees. As the COVID-19 pandemic brought our world to a halt, it illustrated how actions taken for the management of a public health emergency – collection of health data, contact tracing, mandatory testing, vaccine passports, among others – can significantly affect individual liberty, dignity and privacy. This raised numerous questions about how to balance the state’s legitimate public-health interests with the privacy of its citizens.

Set against the backdrop of the recent pandemic, India’s rampant health digitalization initiatives and the ongoing debate on data protection, the essays in Private and Controversial highlight multiple tensions between the fields of public health and privacy. The book covers far-ranging topics, such as health data governance, HIV-AIDS, mental healthcare, reproductive rights, and the role of community workers and artificial intelligence in healthcare.

Written by experts from varied fields, including public health, law, economics, policy and administration, Private and Controversial offers a nuanced understanding of the intersection between privacy and public health. Thought-provoking and illuminating, this is a must-read for generalists and specialists alike.

ABOUT THE EDITOR

Smriti Parsheera is a lawyer and public policy researcher working on issues at the intersection of technology and society. She is currently the India Fellow at the CyberBRICS Project hosted by FGV Law School, Brazil, and a PhD candidate at the School of Public Policy, IIT Delhi.

In a career spanning over fifteen years, she has worked with the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Competition Commission of India. She has several research publications to her credit and writes regularly for international and domestic media outlets.

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

‘This well-curated volume consists of thought-provoking essays by leading authorities, and is a very significant contribution to the field of privacy and health rights.’

—Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court and former Chairperson, Law Commission of India

‘The promise of the computer revolution has to be balanced against the peril of surveillance, of state and private actors that achieve new levels of information about the people and use it against them. Too often, in India, we have rushed ahead into the computer revolution without pondering the implications. Smriti Parsheera has built an important book which examines this tension in the field of health. Everyone interested in the future of freedom in India should read this book.’

—Ila Patnaik, Chief Economist, Aditya Birla Group

‘To protect people and provide public services in disease outbreaks, emergencies and so also in normal times, the state must have the trust of citizens as some of its actions may encroach upon the fundamental human rights of people. People will trust the state only if such actions are scientifically needed, are proportionate to the threat and there is reciprocity of compensation and other support for those adversely affected. Above all, a speedy due process must be in place to curb misuse of authority. Scholars in this volume critically examine legal and ethical aspects of one such fundamental right, the people’s right to privacy which was often violated by the state and the private players during the COVID-19 pandemic in India. It is essential reading to advocate for a stringent data protection law and to ensure that such violations are not repeated.’

—Amar Jesani, Editor, Indian Journal of Medical Ethics

‘Smriti Parsheera tells the story of how the pandemic also became a public debate about health and personal data. While COVID-19 may have receded, digitization of our health systems is here to stay. Here, the fourteen essays edited by her help us in understanding this brave new world. They contain a candid, researched account of how our public health response through digital systems works for the affluent but often undermines privacy and equity. Private and Controversial is a timely account by experts written with clarity, meant to be read by every Indian. It presents the work of India’s best privacy and public health experts in an engaging, popular narrative.’

—Apar Gupta, Executive Director, Internet Freedom Foundation

***

For reviews, excerpts, interviews, and more information, please contact Vandana Rathore at
vandana.rathore@harpercollins.co.in