{"id":351430,"date":"2025-12-07T20:41:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-07T15:11:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?page_id=351430"},"modified":"2025-12-07T20:41:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-07T15:11:21","slug":"answered-critically-analyze-the-proposition-that-data-collection-and-surveillance-technologies-cast-a-shadow-over-digital-constitutionalism-examine-how-ai-threatens-core-constitutional-principles","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/answered-critically-analyze-the-proposition-that-data-collection-and-surveillance-technologies-cast-a-shadow-over-digital-constitutionalism-examine-how-ai-threatens-core-constitutional-principles\/","title":{"rendered":"[Answered] Critically analyze the proposition that data collection and surveillance technologies cast a shadow over digital constitutionalism. Examine how AI threatens core constitutional principles."},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Rising digitalisation, from India\u2019s 20.4 lakh cybercrimes (2024 NCRB)<\/strong> to expanding biometric ecosystems, has amplified debates on digital constitutionalism\u2014where unchecked data collection and AI-driven surveillance challenge liberty, dignity and democratic accountability.<\/p>\n

Threats to Digital Constitutionalism by Data Collection & Surveillance<\/strong><\/h2>\n
    \n
  1. Erosion of Privacy and Personal Autonomy: <\/strong>The Puttaswamy (2017) judgement<\/strong> established privacy as a fundamental right<\/strong>, but pervasive digital systems\u2014Aadhaar databases, Sanchar Saathi-like pre-installed apps, metadata tracking, and geolocation logs\u2014blur constitutional boundaries. Broad exemptions<\/strong> in the Digital Personal Data Protection Act (DPDP), 2023<\/strong> weaken individual autonomy through state-centric processing<\/strong>, limited oversight, and weak remedies.<\/li>\n
  2. Rise of Invisible and Predictive Surveillance: <\/strong>Surveillance is no longer Orwell\u2019s overt 1984 model; it is silent and inferential. Tools such as facial recognition systems (FRS)<\/strong>, CCTVs, predictive policing, and behavioural analytics operate without meaningful notice, consent or audit. Studies (ACLU, MIT Media Lab) reveal racial and gender bias<\/strong>, leading to wrongful arrests in the U.S.; similar concerns arise with India\u2019s FRS pilots in Telangana, Delhi Police and DigiYatra<\/strong>. This undermines Article 14\u2019s non-arbitrariness<\/strong> and produces a chilling effect on Article 19 freedoms<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
  3. Expansion of State Power and Weak Accountability: <\/strong>Digital governance centralises power among State and private platforms, threatening the rule of law<\/strong>. Absence of a comprehensive surveillance law<\/strong> or mandatory judicial warrants<\/strong> creates an asymmetry between State authority and citizen rights. Parliamentary Standing Committee (2021)<\/strong> flagged insufficient safeguards for government surveillance under IT Act, 2000 and Telegraph Act, 1885.<\/li>\n
  4. Loss of Meaningful Consent and Shrinking Citizen Agency: <\/strong>Purpose limitation and informed consent\u2014pillars of digital constitutionalism\u2014collapse with routine click-through<\/strong> agreements, opaque algorithmic processing, and unrestricted data retention. Citizens become passive data subjects<\/strong>, contradicting the constitutional idea of active rights-bearing individuals<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How Artificial Intelligence Threatens Core Constitutional Principles<\/strong><\/h2>\n
      \n
    1. Violation of Equality (Article 14): <\/strong>AI models often train on biased datasets, producing discriminatory outcomes in welfare delivery, credit scoring, hiring, predictive policing, and automated moderation. Example:<\/strong> Algorithmic errors in welfare systems in Rajasthan and Jharkhand caused exclusion of genuine beneficiaries<\/strong> (IDS report 2022). Black-box algorithms<\/strong> deny transparency, violating reasonableness<\/strong> and equality before law<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    2. Undermining Due Process & Natural Justice: <\/strong>AI-driven decisions frequently lack the right to explanation<\/strong>, right to appeal<\/strong>, and procedural fairness<\/strong>. Automated deletions of political content or wrongful police profiling compromise natural justice principles recognised in Maneka Gandhi (1978)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n
    3. Chilling of Free Speech and Expression (Article 19): <\/strong>Continuous algorithmic monitoring on social media, automated content moderation, and metadata surveillance generate fear and self-censorship. The UN Special Rapporteur (2019) warned of algorithmic censorship<\/strong> affecting democratic discourse.<\/li>\n
    4. Threat to Dignity and Personhood: <\/strong>AI-enabled behavioural profiling and biometric surveillance erode informational self-determination\u2014central to dignity, which the Supreme Court considers a fundamental value of the Constitution<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Conclusion<\/strong><\/h2>\n

      As Shoshana Zuboff warns in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,<\/strong> unregulated data and AI regimes distort democratic accountability; strengthening constitutional safeguards is essential to ensure technology remains citizen-centric.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Introduction Rising digitalisation, from India\u2019s 20.4 lakh cybercrimes (2024 NCRB) to expanding biometric ecosystems, has amplified debates on digital constitutionalism\u2014where unchecked data collection and AI-driven surveillance challenge liberty, dignity and democratic accountability. Threats to Digital Constitutionalism by Data Collection & Surveillance Erosion of Privacy and Personal Autonomy: The Puttaswamy (2017) judgement established privacy as a… Continue reading [Answered] Critically analyze the proposition that data collection and surveillance technologies cast a shadow over digital constitutionalism. Examine how AI threatens core constitutional principles.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10320,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-351430","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/351430","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10320"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=351430"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/351430\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=351430"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}