Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Data Privacy Laws In India In Mitigating Cybercrime And Protecting Citizens
- IJLLR Journal
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Dr. Abhishek Kumar Tiwari, Prof., Faculty of Law, University of Lucknow
Amit Kumar Mishra, Research Scholar, Faculty of Law, University of Lucknow
ABSTRACT
In a time marked by global digital interconnectivity, the rapid escalation of cybercrime has compelled governments across the world to establish extensive surveillance frameworks and enact stringent cybersecurity policies. Although such measures aim to safeguard national interests and preserve public order, they give rise to a profound constitutional and ethical dilemma: how can democratic states uphold robust cybersecurity without infringing upon fundamental rights such as personal autonomy and freedom of speech, and due process? This study opens with an analysis of contemporary surveillance technologies—enabled by artificial intelligence, biometric identification, and large-scale data collection—as instruments of both governmental oversight and commercial exploitation. Though frequently framed as measures of protection, these digital systems increasingly obscure the boundary between legitimate security governance and encroachment upon civil liberties. The second section explores how, in the absence of transparency and oversight, surveillance tools are often weaponised against dissenters, journalists, minorities, and civil society— undermining democratic values and eroding public trust under the pretext of national security. The third section interrogates the prevailing global governance gap. Although frameworks like the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) seek to articulate digital rights norms, enforcement remains uneven and jurisdictionally fragmented. Such inconsistency fosters conditions in which digital authoritarianism can thrive, often legitimised through the rhetoric of national security imperatives. To conclude, the paper supports a cybersecurity model grounded in human rights, legal safeguards, and democratic checks, ensuring that national security efforts do not come at the expense of individual freedoms in a surveillance-driven era.
Keywords: Cybersecurity, Surveillance Technologies, Civil Liberties, Digital Authoritarianism, Human Rights, National Security.
