The Algorithmic Panopticon: Deconstructing Gig Worker Surveillance And Social Insecurity Under The Code On Social Security, 2020
Ritesh Datta, B.A. LL.B. (Hons.), ICFAI University Tripura
ABSTRACT
The contemporary platform economy relies on a structural fiction: characterising gig workers as independent, autonomous micro-entrepreneurs rather than dependent labor. This socio-legal article deconstructs the mechanisms of algorithmic management—continuous biometric surveillance, opaque rating architectures, and automated deactivations—that establish a modern panopticon across India's delivery and ride-hailing sectors. Examining the Code on Social Security, 2020, this paper argues that while Sections 2(35) and 2(60) formally recognize "gig" and "platform" workers, Chapter IX provides a hollow welfare architecture devoid of enforceable rights against arbitrary digital discipline. By delegating welfare funding to an ambiguous aggregator cess without guaranteeing statutory minimum wages, occupational safety, or collective bargaining, the Code legitimatizes precarious labor. Evaluating this regulatory framework against constitutional guarantees under Articles 14, 21, and 23, the article demonstrates how algorithmic de-platforming violates procedural due process and personal dignity. Drawing comparative insights from the European Union's Platform Work Directive and the sub-national intervention of the Rajasthan Platform Based Gig Workers Act, 2023, this paper proposes a normative tripartite reform: statutory mandates for algorithmic transparency, a justiciable right against automated livelihood termination, and an institutionalized model of digital collective bargaining.
Keywords: Platform Labor, Algorithmic Management, Code on Social Security 2020, Article 21, Surveillance Capitalism, Rajasthan Gig Workers Act.
