Technology and Surveillance in the Post-Pandemic Society

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed a global expansion of digital surveillance systems, transforming emergency health technologies into long-term governance tools. This paper critically examines the normalization of surveillance in post-pandemic society through a sociological lens, with a particular focus on India. Drawing exclusively from secondary data, it analyzes how surveillance infrastructures—such as contact tracing apps, biometric monitoring, and AI-based public surveillance—have reconfigured state–citizen relations, reinforced social inequalities, and reshaped the meaning of citizenship in the digital age. The study engages with key sociological theories, including Foucault’s governmentality, Zuboff’s surveillance capitalism, and Lyon’s concept of the surveillance society, to explore how technological control has been embedded into everyday life. The findings underscore that surveillance is not merely a technical phenomenon but a deeply social institution that reproduces power, marginality, and exclusion. The paper concludes with a set of policy recommendations aimed at promoting rights-based, participatory, and ethically grounded digital governance.