Ethical and regulatory implications of AI in cybersecurity surveillance

The high adoption rate of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in cybersecurity surveillance has played a major role in increasing detection of threats, behaviour, as well as incident response actions. Nevertheless, the technology has essential ethical and regulatory issues that concern privacy, consent, bias of algorithms, and accountability. The submitted paper researches the ethical issues and regulatory gaps, which arise due to the implementation of AI-based surveillance solutions in the area of both the private and the public sphere. Based on an interdisciplinary exploration of existing literature and regulatory approaches (including the EU GDPR and AI Act and the CCPA in the U.S.) as well as prominent examples of case studies, this paper will analyze the way in which these technologies threaten customary standards of transparency, fairness, and civil liberties. Analysis shows that the current regulations tend to be inconsistent, reactive, and poorly placed to handle the transparency and freedom of AI surveillance systems. It also points out the danger of increasing social disparities by means of unregulated algorithmic profiling. To alleviate such challenges, the paper proposes the multi-stakeholder methodology which implies to harmonize policies, incorporate the process of explainable AI, enforce the regular algorithmic audits, and introduce the privacy-preserving AI methodologies. Finally, the paper recommends proactive ethical governance and adaptive regulatory innovation so that cybersecurity surveillance technologies may work in the betterment of society without affecting the rights of individuals.