PRIVACY, PROPORTIONALITY, AND THE CORPORATE PANOPTICON

AUTHOR – PREKSHA JAIN* & SUJAL CHHAJED**

* RENAISSANCE LAW COLLEGE, INDORE

** NATIONAL LAW INSTITUTE UNIVERSITY, BHOPAL

BEST CITATION – PREKSHA JAIN & SUJAL CHHAJED, PRIVACY, PROPORTIONALITY, AND THE CORPORATE PANOPTICON, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 5 (12) OF 2025, PG. 445-458, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344

Abstract

This paper applies Michel Foucault’s theoretical framework of biopower to examine how contemporary corporate cybersecurity policies function as sophisticated mechanisms of employee control and discipline within organizational hierarchies. Drawing upon Foucault’s conceptualization of disciplinary power, panopticism, and the transformation of bodies into “docile subjects,” this research interrogates the extent to which cybersecurity governance has evolved beyond mere technical protection to constitute a pervasive system of surveillance capitalism that fundamentally alters the employer-employee relationship. The analysis particularly focuses on the evolving role of company secretaries as governance professionals who must navigate the delicate equilibrium between organizational security imperatives and the constitutional right to human dignity, especially within the Indian legal framework following the landmark Puttaswamy judgment and the enactment of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Through systematic examination of contemporary cybersecurity policies, employee monitoring technologies, and regulatory compliance mechanisms, this paper argues that corporate cybersecurity has metamorphosed into a form of biopower that operates through disciplinary technologies to produce normalized, self-regulating subjects rather than merely protecting digital assets. The research contributes to the growing body of interdisciplinary scholarship examining the intersection of corporate governance, employee rights, and surveillance technologies while proposing a normative framework for company secretaries to fulfil their fiduciary duties without compromising fundamental human dignity principles.

Keywords: Corporate biopower, panoptic surveillance, algorithmic governance, disciplinary mechanisms, employee dignity.