Artificial Intelligence And Informational Privacy: Towards A Constitutional Framework For Algorithmic Governance In India

Artificial intelligence (AI) is rapidly transforming the relationship between individuals, markets, and the State. In India, algorithmic systems increasingly influence welfare delivery, policing, financial services, employment, healthcare, education, digital identity, content moderation, and public administration. These developments generate substantial constitutional concerns because contemporary AI systems do not merely process information supplied by individuals; they aggregate, infer, predict, classify, and generate information about them. The resulting privacy risks therefore extend beyond conventional notions of data collection and disclosure to encompass profiling, behavioural prediction, surveillance, inferential privacy, and automated decision-making. This article examines whether India's constitutional framework is capable of regulating these emerging forms of informational power. The article adopts a doctrinal and comparative methodology, analysing Article 21 and related fundamental rights, the Supreme Court's privacy jurisprudence, particularly Justice K.S. Puttaswamy (Retd.) v. Union of India (2017), K.S. Puttaswamy (Aadhaar-5J.) v. Union of India (2019), Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978), and Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India (2020), alongside the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and contemporary international approaches including the European Union's Artificial Intelligence Act. It argues that India's constitutional privacy doctrine should be understood as a form of algorithmic constitutionalism, capable of imposing substantive and procedural limits on both governmental and, in appropriate circumstances, private algorithmic power. The article proposes a constitutional framework based on legality, legitimate purpose, necessity, proportionality, data minimisation, algorithmic transparency, explainability, human oversight, non-discrimination, independent auditing, procedural fairness, and effective remedies. It concludes that India's emerging AI governance regime should not rely exclusively upon sectoral regulation or consent-based data protection but should place constitutional rights at the centre of algorithmic governance. Keywords: Artificial Intelligence, Informational Privacy, Article 21, Constitution of India, Algorithmic Governance, Digital Personal Data Protection Act, Proportionality, Surveillance, Automated Decision-Making, AI Regulation.