The Right to Privacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Evaluating Pakistan's Civil Law Protections against Algorithmic Surveillance and Data Misuse
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.62497/irjai.240Keywords:
ai, artificial intelligence, privacy, data protection, algorithmic surveillance, civil rights, Pakistan, biometric data, automated decision-makingAbstract
The concept of privacy has morphed in real life with AI. We have all seen the concept of Privacy evolve practically with AI. Modern surveillance does not rely exclusively on the need for certain people to be supervised in a certain place; it is the result of continuing flows of identity, location, biometric, financial, health and behavioral information that are gathered, connected and inferred. Article 14 of the Pakistan Constitution guarantees dignity and privacy of the home and case law has recognized eavesdropping and tapping of telephone conversations as constitutional violations in the country. But the regular civil law structure is still in disarray. The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 covers all aspects of unauthorized access, misuse of personal identity and interception; the Investigation for Fair Trial Act, 2013 covers certain types of warrants for investigations; the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017 covers disclosure of personal records; and general civil remedies include bringing in an injunction, action on a contract, defamation, and constitutional review. However, none of these tools provide an all-encompassing array of rights which regulate legal data processing, biometric monitoring, automated decision making, algorithmic explanation, auditing and compensation for the misuse of data. They apply doctrinal and comparative legal analysis to assess that gap in this article. It states that the constitutional commitment trumps the current legal framework of the Pakistan Constitution and, through its commitment to the protection of the rights of the people, it has introduced greater sanctity into the proceedings. It is not that the constitutional commitment is not superior to the present legal structure, as it can bring meaning to the interpretation of rights, but case-by-case litigation cannot replace a comprehensive law on data protection.
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