Kerala High Court Examines Plea Against CMO’s Bulk Messaging Using Citizens’ Data

The Kerala High Court is hearing a petition challenging the use of citizens’ personal data by the Chief Minister’s Office for sending bulk messages about government schemes.

Petitioners argued that the State has no free hand to repurpose data collected for government services, contending that such use violates the right to privacy.

The State defended the initiative as “transformative communication” aimed at informing people about welfare programmes.

However, the Court raised concerns over data protection and whether explicit consent had been obtained, observing that data held by the State cannot be used for political or unauthorised messaging.