From Data to Discrimination: Gender, Privacy, and the Politics of Digital Surveillance

Abstract

A greater amount of surveillance of gendered populations has been brought about as a consequence of the era of datafication, which has the effect of reinforcing the structural forms of inequality that already exist.   Taking a critical look at the ways in which surveillance capitalism and algorithmic governance turn privacy into a contentious domain, with a disproportionate impact on women and communities that are excluded, this article examines the ways in which these two factors exacerbate the problem.   The purpose of this study is to analyse the ways in which well-established patriarchal and racial biases contribute to the growth of digital vulnerabilities using technology such as facial recognition and predictive policing.  In order to accomplish this, it makes use of feminist theories and publications that have been issued by Amnesty International (2022) and the United Nations Women (2023).   The digital panopticon has the effect of expanding offline oppression into digital domains so that it can be experienced by a greater number of people. This is in contrast to the data colonialism, which greatly restricts autonomy, particularly in the Global South.   Particularly in light of the expansion of cyberstalking, doxxing, and bias guided by artificial intelligence, the absence of gender-sensitive digital regulations continues to be a significant cause for worry.   In order to argue that surveillance is a political act of control and to suggest that intersectional digital rights frameworks should be implemented, the goal of this study is to be conducted.  It accomplishes this by addressing feminist criticisms that have been made in the past.   This organisation seeks to reimagine privacy as a social and feminist concern in the digital age. Its mission is to work for systemic reforms in the fields of law, technology, and policy for the purpose of achieving this goal.