How can the balance between national security and individual privacy be maintained in surveillance practices?

Balancing national security with individual privacy is a major challenge in democratic societies, especially as technology enables more widespread surveillance. While surveillance can help prevent threats, it also risks infringing on citizens’ fundamental rights to privacy. To maintain this balance, a mix of legal, institutional, and technological safeguards is necessary.

• Clear Legal Framework: Surveillance should be governed by clear, transparent laws that define the scope, purpose, and limits of surveillance activities. Laws must specify what data can be collected, under what circumstances, and by whom.
• Judicial Oversight: Independent judicial authorization should be required before conducting surveillance, especially for invasive techniques like phone tapping or monitoring electronic communications. This ensures that surveillance is not misused for personal or political reasons.
• Proportionality and Necessity: Surveillance measures should be proportionate to the threat and necessary for achieving a legitimate security objective. Blanket or mass surveillance should be avoided; targeted surveillance based on credible evidence is preferable.
• Accountability Mechanisms: Agencies conducting surveillance must be accountable to oversight bodies, such as parliamentary committees or independent regulators, which can review actions and address grievances.
• Transparency: Periodic public reports about the extent and nature of surveillance, without compromising sensitive details, can build public trust and ensure responsible use.
• Data Protection: Strict rules should govern the storage, access, and sharing of collected data. Data should be retained only as long as necessary and protected from unauthorized access.
• Right to Redress: Citizens should have mechanisms to challenge unlawful surveillance and seek remedies if their privacy is violated.
• Use of Technology: Privacy-enhancing technologies, such as encryption and anonymization, can be used to minimize unnecessary data exposure while still enabling effective surveillance for security purposes.