Digital Surveillance, Biometric Governance, and the Erosion of Informational Privacy: A Constitutional Law Perspective

Abstract

The rapid expansion of digital surveillance and biometric governance has fundamentally transformed the architecture of contemporary governance, reshaping the relationship between the state, the individual, and constitutional law. This article examines how emerging surveillance infrastructures—particularly those grounded in biometric technologies and algorithmic decision-making—challenge traditional constitutional doctrines of privacy, dignity, autonomy, and democratic accountability. Using a narrative review combined with descriptive-analytical methodology, the study traces the evolution of surveillance technologies from analog observation to predictive and biometric systems, and analyzes their institutional integration within modern governance frameworks. The findings demonstrate that biometric surveillance constitutes a new mode of constitutional power characterized by data-driven governance, algorithmic sovereignty, and the redefinition of individuals as data subjects rather than legal subjects. This transformation erodes informational privacy as a structural condition of constitutional democracy and weakens established safeguards of proportionality, due process, and judicial oversight. The article further identifies key structural risks associated with biometric governance, including function creep, irreversible data compromise, normalization of permanent identification, and deepening asymmetries of power and transparency. Through a comparative examination of jurisprudential trends and human rights frameworks, the study reveals persistent doctrinal inconsistencies and unresolved constitutional tensions surrounding surveillance practices. Finally, the article proposes a normative reconstruction of constitutional limits on biometric surveillance, emphasizing the need for substantive restrictions, strengthened procedural safeguards, robust institutional oversight, and democratic governance of surveillance infrastructures. The study concludes that safeguarding informational privacy in the digital age is not merely a regulatory challenge but a constitutional imperative essential for preserving democratic legitimacy, the rule of law, and human freedom in increasingly data-driven societies.