Surveillance, Privacy, And Human Rights In The Digital Era: Navigating Challenges And Safeguarding Rights In The Indian Context
E.A. Vidhyabharathi, Assistant Prof. of Law, KMC College of Law, Tirupur, Research Scholar, The Tamilnadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University, Chennai.
ABSTRACT
The rapid expansion of India's digital public infrastructure and data-driven governance has intensified the conflict between state surveillance, national security, and individual fundamental rights. This paper examines the evolving landscape of digital surveillance in India, evaluating the legal, technological, and human rights challenges introduced by pervasive data collection and state monitoring systems. Analyzing India’s regulatory framework, this study anchors its legal assessment on the Supreme Court’s landmark Puttaswamy judgment—which recognized privacy as a fundamental right under Article 21 of the Constitution—and evaluates the statutory mechanisms established by the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act, 2023. It contrasts these domestic realities with international benchmarks like the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) to identify regulatory gaps. The analysis reveals critical structural vulnerabilities; while the DPDP Act introduces essential principles of user consent, data minimization, and principal rights, broad state exemptions for national security and public order frequently bypass independent judicial oversight. Furthermore, rapid technological deployments—including facial recognition, predictive policing, and sophisticated spyware—outpace current legislative protections and challenge the constitutional tests of necessity and proportionality. The paper suggests that to reconcile state security imperatives with international human rights standards, India must reform its surveillance architecture by embedding independent judicial review into interception protocols, guaranteeing the absolute autonomy of the Data Protection Board of India (DPBI), mandating "privacy by design" across tech platforms, and cultivating systemic cybersecurity resilience alongside public digital literacy.
Keywords: DPDP Act 2023; Puttaswamy Judgment; Digital Surveillance; Right to Privacy; Data Protection Board of India (DPBI); Proportionality and Necessity.
