Evolution of the Right to Privacy in India and the United States: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

This paper examines the evolution of the right to privacy in India and the United States through an institutional framework that links the idea of privacy to autonomy, dignity and democratic citizenship. While both countries now recognise privacy as a constitutional right, their trajectories and dynamics differ substantially. In the United States, privacy emerged incrementally through judicial recognition of societal expectations concerning intimacy, bodily autonomy and informational control. In India, privacy was crafted as a constitutional value by the judiciary, which acted as an agent of social transformation in response to institutional circumstances that limited legislative oversight and expanded executive authority. Drawing on liberal democratic theory, this paper explains how privacy enables individuals to exercise judgement, develop personal identity and participate freely in democratic life. It argues that institutional design shaped the divergent pathways: privacy grew from the bottom up in the United States but was constructed from the top down in India. The comparative analysis highlights the dynamic relationship between democratic institutions and the development of fundamental rights.