A large number of appeals/complaints before the Commission, however, were also indicative of the need for enhancement in the quality of voluntary disclosure so that information seekers are not required to join long queues. Our enthusiasm about transparency and democracy should not make us ignore, even for a moment, the fact that the citizen who is at the heart of all these arrangements is also an individual with certain inviolable rights to privacy. There is a wafer thin difference between what is public and what is private. The RTI Act has provisions which deal with such issues, but there are certain areas which need further clarity. There is perhaps need to create an arrangement that would provide protection to individuals in case their privacy is breached through unlawful means.
-Shri Pranab Mukherjee, The President of India, after inaugurating the 8th Annual Convention of Central Information Commission (CIC) (September 2, 2013) at DRDO Bhavan, New Delhi.
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