India: Issued Supreme Court ruling in case challenging enforcement agencies's use of technologies such as Google Maps to track location of defendants in criminal proceedings

On 8 July 2024, the Supreme Court of India issued its ruling in a case challenging enforcement agencies's use of technologies such as Google Maps to track the location of defendants in criminal proceedings. In the case Frank Vitus v Narcotics Control Bureau, the Court stated that mandating the provision of a Google Maps pin location as a bail condition infringes upon the right to privacy as protected under Article 21 of the Constitution. The Court found that such a condition, which could potentially allow law enforcement agencies to track an individual's movements, violated privacy rights. Consequently, the Court ordered the removal of the Google Maps pin location condition from the bail terms, emphasising that privacy must be safeguarded against unnecessary intrusions.