Abstract
Emerging technologies in biometrics and artificial intelligence (AI) have revolutionized state surveillance and brought up important constitutional issues regarding individual rights and privacy in India. Privacy was acknowledged as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Supreme Court’s landmark Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (2017) ruling, which required that any state intrusion be legal, necessary, and proportionate. But the difficulties presented by AI-driven surveillance technologies like facial recognition and predictive policing have not yet been adequately addressed by India’s current legal framework, which includes the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023.
Comparative legal frameworks that provide useful insights include the U.S. Fourth Amendment jurisprudence and the EU’s GDPR. While the U.S. Supreme Court stressed judicial authorization for digital surveillance in Carpenter v. United States (2018), strengthening privacy protections in the digital age, the GDPR enshrines algorithmic transparency, human oversight, and stringent data protection. There are significant gaps in India’s current legislation, including the lack of independence of the Data Protection Board, the extensive exemptions granted to state agencies for surveillance, and the absence of required algorithmic impact assessments and bias audits. Furthermore, there is insufficient transparency in government data practices and little judicial oversight of surveillance technologies.
This article promotes specific reforms based on judicial precedents and international best practices, including the creation of an independent data protection authority with enforcement authority, algorithmic impact assessments, judicial review for surveillance exemptions, increased transparency and public consultation, and improved grievance redress procedures. Furthermore, it is crucial to protect children’s data and guarantee data portability and limited retention. India can create a strong digital constitutional framework that maintains democratic accountability, strikes a balance between individual privacy and state security, and conforms to international standards by incorporating these reforms. In the rapidly changing digital age, this ethical approach is essential to guaranteeing that AI-driven surveillance upholds rather than compromises constitutional rights.
Keywords- Privacy, Surveillance, Artificial Intelligence, Data Protection, Judicial Oversight.