Digital Citizenship And Data Privacy In India - Constitutional Promises And Emerging Challenges
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Category: Constitutional & Human Rights
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DIGITAL CITIZENSHIP AND DATA PRIVACY IN INDIA:
CONSTITUTIONAL PROMISES AND EMERGING
CHALLENGES
Divyanshu Yadav, University of Lucknow
ABSTRACT
What it means to be a citizen in the twenty first century has been changed by India's swift digitalization of identity systems, governance, and daily communication. Digital citizenship now not only confined to using of technology but to also protect citizens data online. It is no longer only about having access to technology. Concerns about growing digital inequality, regulatory independence, and surveillance exemptions still exist. In order to preserve dignity, autonomy, and constitutional freedoms in the digital age, this essay explores the changing notion of digital citizenship, assesses current legal safeguards, and makes the case for a rights based, citizen centric data governance framework. Introduction Citizenship is the legal membership of a country that comes with several rights, duties, and privileges.
In India, article 5 of the Constitution lay down the necessary conditions to be a citizen1 and other articles specifies rights and protection given to the citizens. But with the advent of technology citizens not only need to be protected in person but also in the digital sphere. Participation of citizens in online activities like transactions, mailing, using of internet and websites created another identity on the internet which needs to be protected in the same way as in the state. That another identity is known as Digital Citizenship, which simply means the safe, secure and responsible use of technology. However, maintaining a balance between technical advancement and individual freedom becomes crucial in an era where personal data powers both administration and business. In order to guarantee those citizens’ rights are upheld both online and offline, this essay contends
1 India Const. art. 5.
that digital citizenship and data privacy are important to contemporary constitutionalism and that India's constitutional values must now be applied to the digital realm. Digital Citizenship and Transformation of Rights In the real world every citizen has some rights and duties, in the same way in the digital world the safe, responsible and legal way of using technology is digital citizenship. 2 The ability to access online resources and using them safely and responsibly is included in the digital citizenship. A good digital citizen is one who protects its data and also not harming of others like that in the real world where everyone has some duties towards one another. Constitution is a living document and it can shape itself with needs of the modern world.
As technology are developing a new dimension of legislation, rights and duties has opened and our constitution also modifying itself according to the need. As in Shreya Singhal v Union of India3 Supreme Court ruled that freedom of speech online is also a part of article 19. This transformation of rights from territorial to digital is important. Now, right to privacy an important aspect of Article 214 states that every citizen has right to privacy but as we are moving towards digital world there is need to widen the applicability of this right in digital world also. Just like natural territorial citizens, digital citizens should also have this right to privacy as fundamental right and needs to be protected in the digital sphere. In K. S. Puttaswamy v.
Union of India5 the nine judge bench unanimously declared right to privacy as a fundamental right and also put emphasise on the digital privacy. Privacy is not just confined to physical world but it has as much importance in the digital world. The user should know about how the data s collected, used and stored. Informational privacy is recognized as core component of digital privacy where the user must know before its data is collected and also to protect from unauthorized survellience. Right to Privacy and Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023
2 Defining Digital Citizenship and Digital Citizenship Education
A Delphi Study, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10.1080/15391523.2025.2536564?needAccess=true (last visited Oct. 30, 2025).
3 Shreya Singhal v. Union of India, AIR 2015 SC 1523 (India).
4 Const. of India art. 21.
5 K .S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India, (2017) 10 SCC 1 (India).
Right to Privacy becomes a Fundamental Right in K. S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India6 and after passing of the Digital Personal Data Protection (DPDP) Act the issue was finally settled. In Puttaswamy case right to privacy is considered as an intrinsic part of right to life. Justice Chandrachud also states that in the era of technology the right should extent to digital privacy and citizens have right to control their privacy online. The DPDP act passed in August 2023 was the first comprehensive statutory framework for the collection, storage and processing of individual’s data. This act was enacted after the aftermath of the Puttaswamy judgement with the objective to maintain a balance between individual’s right and public good.
The Act views people as Data Principals, whose personal information is stored and handled by Data Fiduciaries, which include government agencies, private companies, and digital platforms. According to the legislation, consent, purpose limitation, and data minimization must be the cornerstones of any processing of personal data. In order to recognize the person's right to informational self-determination, consent must be free, informed, explicit, and clear. Additionally, data principals have a number of legal rights, including the ability to see their personal information, the right to have it corrected or erased, and the right to revoke consent at any time. But this act also comes with a limitation; in the act there are many instances where state discretion is seen to be dominant over individual rights.
According to section 17 of the act central government can order any of its public institution to use the data without informing the individual. There will be no transparency in how the institution is using that data and all this in the name of public interest and national security. It will be on the discretion of the government what will it consider as the case of the national security and public interest. 7 There are also many instances in the act where the word “as may be prescribed” is written but there is no mention of who will prescribe and how will, what will be the framework. It is totally on the discretion of the executives to formulate rules and regulations according to themselves. Hence this act is not efficient in protecting the privacy of the individuals and needs to be reformulated. This act is just a first step not the whole solution.
There are many shortcomings in this act like government can easily do whatever in the name of national security. There is no clear consent
6 Id.
7 Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, s. 17 (India).
of user before using the data under this section violating its right to privacy. Also, the data protection board is not independent. Challenges in Digital Citizenship
1. Risk of State Surveillance
There is always a risk of state surveillance in digital citizenship as sometimes the government in the name of national security and to protect integrity of country overrides the individual rights. But it is also important that government uses this data in reasonable manner.8 Recently a threat of Israeli made spyware known as Pegasus is found to be in some Indian phones later this issue was taken by Supreme Court. A separate committee was made by the SC to look after the matter and in the report, out of 29 suspected phones 5 were found to be infected with a malware but it was not Pegasus.9 The government also refuses that it was Pegasus. But still it is a concerning issue and these type of threats is very common.
2. Digital Illiteracy
In rural India smartphone is not a luxury today and almost each household have one. But these people are not that much aware of their data privacy. They are obsessed with only one thing that what the phone is providing not its consequences. For example, if a person is using a website and it asks consent for cookies, for the sake of the service the websites is providing the person will accept it. Same goes with games and some illegal websites. In urban areas citizens are still not aware of some kinds of spywares and malwares that can gather their data without their knowledge, also cases of cyber bullying and stalking is very common in the youngsters.
3. Growing Digital Divide
In India the gap between rural and urban area is expanding with a great extent. There are many government schemes which require digital literacy and the citizens in rural
8 Puttaswamy, (2017) 10 SCC 1, at 447–57.
9 The Wire, Pegasus Project Investigation, 2021; Supreme Court Pegasus Committee Report (2022).
areas hardly know how to take advantage of the schemes. Unequal access to internet and other digital facilities exclude these persons from taking benefit of being a citizen. For example as a citizen of the country it is right of every person to know about the functioning of public departments. 10 But hardly anyone knows about the process as it requires a decent amount of digital literacy. So, indirectly the citizens are deprived of their rights. Way Forward Digital citizenship has many challenges at present but some little reforms can create a huge impact. Increase independence of data protection board and minimum interference of executives is needed. Uninformed collection and use of data under section 17 of the DPDP Act can be curtailed by incorporating proper judicial review and proportionality tests.
Digital divide can be reduced by providing access to internet and digital information. Workshops on digital rights and digital information can be conducted in rural areas to increase digital literacy. Only the necessary data should be collected and used only for the purpose stated. These small changes can create a huge impact on the situation of digital citizenship in India. Conclusion As the world is forwarding towards the digital era, our country should be ready to confront it while maintain the rights of the citizens. Digital citizenship is not only about using internet but it is about how we are using them. As the India is moving towards its digital era it is very important for the government to keep the rights of the citizens at its centre. Every act and policy should ensure that the rights of the citizen are protected.
It should be ensured that with technological advancements the basic principles of privacy and dignity should be compromised.
10 Right to Information Act, 2005 (India).