Privacy as Resistance: Legal Strategies Against State and Corporate Surveillance
Keywords:
Privacy, Legal Resistance, Surveillance, Data Protection, Human Rights, Strategic Litigation, Digital AutonomyAbstract
This study aims to examine legal strategies that serve as resistance mechanisms against state and corporate surveillance, with a focus on how privacy is conceptualized and mobilized through legal frameworks. This narrative review employs a descriptive analysis method, synthesizing scholarly literature, legal documents, judicial decisions, and international policy reports published between 2019 and 2024. The review is grounded in interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks and draws from comparative legal perspectives across jurisdictions. Legal resistance to state surveillance is primarily enacted through constitutional challenges, strategic litigation by civil society organizations, and transparency mechanisms such as Freedom of Information laws. Landmark cases have helped redefine privacy rights in the context of digital technologies. In the corporate domain, data protection laws like the GDPR and CCPA empower individuals to assert control over their personal data through consent, access, and redress mechanisms. Strategic litigation and regulatory enforcement have begun to influence the practices of major technology companies. However, legal resistance is uneven across democratic and authoritarian regimes, and disparities between Global North and Global South countries reflect broader structural inequalities. Limitations such as legal capture, public disengagement, and jurisdictional fragmentation present ongoing challenges. Legal frameworks offer critical tools for resisting surveillance and reclaiming privacy, yet their efficacy depends on political, institutional, and social contexts. While not a panacea, legal strategies form an essential component of broader resistance efforts aimed at ensuring autonomy and accountability in the digital age.
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