The Supreme Court of India, in the case of FrankVitus v. NarcoticsControlBureau&Ors., ruled on July 8, 2024, that mandating the sharing of Google Maps pin location as a bail condition infringes on the right to privacy as per Article 21 of the Constitution. The appellant had contested the bail terms, and the Court found that such conditions allowing tracking of the accused's movements were unconstitutional. Additionally, the Court deemed the Google Maps pin location condition unnecessary as it does not permit real-time tracking. Consequently, the Supreme Court directed the removal of this bail condition.
India's Supreme Court struck down Google pin location sharing as a bail condition, citing privacy rights.
On July 8, 2024, the Supreme Court of India issued its decision in the case of Frank Vitus v. Narcotics Control Bureau & Ors., arising out of Special Leave Petition (S.L.P.) (Crl.) No. 63396340 of 2023, in which it held, among other things, that providing pin location, through Google LLC's Maps application, as a bail condition violates the right to privacy guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India (the Constitution). Background to the decision The appellant in the present case challenged the conditions imposed on their bail, including the condition to share Google Maps pin location. Findings of the Supreme Court The Supreme Court noted that any bail condition that enables th