Plea in Supreme Court seeks guidelines on agencies' digital data access

A public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court to establish comprehensive guidelines regulating how criminal investigation agencies collect and access personal digital data.

The petition seeks constitutionally compliant safeguards for digital requests, including movement records, timestamps, and online post metadata, while protecting fundamental privacy rights under Articles 14, 19, and 21.

The petitioner argued that data collection should be strictly necessary and proportionate, urging that investigators specify the purpose, time period, and connection to the alleged offense rather than conducting routine fishing expeditions.