Digital Surveillance and Democratic Fragility in India

Digital surveillance has emerged as a central feature of governance in contemporary India, reshaping the relationship between the state, technology, and democratic citizenship. This article critically examines the expansion of surveillance infrastructures across social media platforms, public administration, labour management, and public health systems, highlighting how data-driven monitoring has become normalized within everyday governance practices. Drawing on policy documents, legal developments, and empirical examples, the study analyses the implications of mass, targeted, and lateral surveillance for privacy, freedom of expression, and political dissent. It argues that while surveillance initiatives are often justified in the name of national security, efficiency, and convenience, the absence of robust legal safeguards, transparency, and independent oversight has enabled the consolidation of disproportionate state power. The recognition of privacy as a fundamental right in the Puttaswamy judgment and the enactment of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 represent important institutional developments; however, their limitations undermine effective protection against surveillance overreach. The article further explores emerging forms of resistance, including sousveillance and civic monitoring, as democratic counterbalances to state-led data extraction. Ultimately, the study contends that without rights-based regulation and accountability mechanisms, digital surveillance risks eroding constitutional freedoms and transforming citizens into data subjects governed through opaque technological systems