The Right to Privacy in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: Evaluating Pakistan's Civil Law Protections against Algorithmic Surveillance and Data Misuse

Abstract

Artificial intelligence has changed the practical meaning of privacy. Modern surveillance no longer depends only on a person being watched in a physical place; it can arise from the continuous collection, linkage and inference of identity, location, biometric, financial, health and behavioral data. In Pakistan, Article 14 of the Constitution protects dignity and the privacy of the home, while judicial decisions have treated unlawful telephone tapping and eavesdropping as constitutional injuries. Yet the ordinary civil-law framework remains dispersed. The Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 addresses unauthorized access, identity misuse and interception; the Investigation for Fair Trial Act, 2013 regulates specified surveillance warrants; the Right of Access to Information Act, 2017 protects personal records from disclosure; and general civil remedies may be pursued through injunction, contract, defamation and constitutional review. None of these instruments, however, supplies a complete set of rights governing lawful data processing, biometric surveillance, automated decision-making, algorithmic explanation, independent auditing, breach notification or compensation for data misuse. This article applies doctrinal and comparative legal analysis to evaluate that gap. It argues that Pakistan's constitutional commitment is stronger than its present statutory architecture: Article 14 can guide rights-based interpretation, but case-by-case litigation cannot replace a comprehensive data protection statute. The paper therefore proposes an integrated framework built on legality, necessity, proportionality, purpose limitation, data minimization, human review, equality testing, independent supervision and effective civil remedies.