Algorithmic Governance and the Quiet Erosion of Informational Privacy in India

India’s rapid embrace of algorithmic governance is enabling a subtle but far‑reaching erosion of informational privacy, especially for marginalized citizens. It traces how AI‑driven surveillance in policing and welfare-facial recognition, “360‑degree” social registries, and automated eligibility systems - has been deployed without clear statutory basis, transparent oversight, or robust individual remedies, often producing wrongful exclusions and biased profiling. Situating these developments against the constitutional right to privacy recognized in K.S. Puttaswamy and the limited protections in the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, the paper shows that opaque state data practices are reconfiguring the balance between security, efficiency, and fundamental rights from within the administrative machinery rather than through explicit legal reform. It concludes by proposing a suite of safeguards- statutory algorithmic impact assessments, transparency and audit obligations, independent oversight bodies, and accessible redress mechanisms- to realign India’s AI‑enabled governance with constitutional commitments to dignity, autonomy, and accountability.