STOLEN FACES, SILENT VIOLATIONS: DEEPFAKE TECHNOLOGY AND THE CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS OF CONSENT

The face is not only a significant aspect of someone's identity now in the digital era, it is data. Artificial intelligence is now able to manipulate a facial image or a voice via the power of Artificial Intelligence to produce hyper-realistic fake content, such as a smile captured on a photo, a voice captured on a video or a facial expression uploaded on social media. A technological “experiment” that seemed to be part of the future rapidly has become a legal and constitutional issue. The perpetration of any image or video that is manipulated or fabricated is another problem that is far more dire: the loss of the consent, dignity, and personal autonomy of the individual. The deepfake technology employs artificial intelligence and machine learning to produce fake (but very realistic) sound and visual images of people. At first, it was created as a novelty and a means of inspiring innovation; now it is increasingly being used with the intent to harass, misinform, use for political manipulation, and for digital exploitation. The advent of the deepfake in India has brought in lacunas in the legal system especially regarding the constitutional safeguarding of privacy and dignity as enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution.