Protecting Data Privacy and Individual Rights in the Era of Artificial Intelligence: A Critical Study of the Indian Legal Framework

Author(s): Jyoti Verma

Abstract:

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is increasingly embedded in healthcare, banking, governance, education, transportation, commerce and legal services. Its capacity to collect, infer, classify and process very large volumes of information creates substantial opportunities for efficiency and innovation, but also intensifies risks to privacy, autonomy, equality and dignity. This paper critically examines the Indian legal framework governing data privacy and individual rights in the AI era, with particular attention to constitutional privacy jurisprudence, the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (DPDP Act), the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, the Information Technology Act, 2000, and the emerging India AI Governance Guidelines. The paper argues that India has moved from a fragmented data-protection landscape toward a more coherent statutory framework, yet important AI-specific questions remain insufficiently resolved. These include opacity in automated decision-making, inferential privacy, algorithmic bias, profiling, allocation of responsibility across AI value chains, effective contestability, and the interaction between data protection and state surveillance. The analysis uses a doctrinal, analytical and comparative method and draws upon constitutional principles and leading Supreme Court decisions. It proposes a rights-based, risk-sensitive and institutionally coordinated approach that combines data-protection compliance with algorithmic accountability, human oversight, impact assessment, transparency, effective remedies and technical safeguards. The objective is not to inhibit responsible innovation, but to ensure that technological progress remains compatible with human dignity, liberty, equality and informational self-determination.

keywords:
Artificial Intelligence; Data Privacy; Informational Privacy; Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023; Algorithmic Accountability; Automated Decision-Making; Fundamental Rights; AI Governance; India.

Pages: 03-09     |    13 View     |    3 Download