BharatNotes Surveillance
noun (countable and uncountable)Usage in a UPSC answer
While digital surveillance can be a legitimate instrument of national security, the absence of a robust data-protection framework and independent judicial oversight risks tilting the balance from a vigilant state towards a surveillance state, eroding the citizen's fundamental right to privacy.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Word Family
surveille (v), surveilled (adj), surveilling (v pres.p), surveiller (n), surveillance-state (n compound)
Root
French sur- = over + veiller = to watch; Latin vigilāre = to be watchful; -ance = noun suffix
Etymology
From French surveillance ("a watching over"), from surveiller ("to watch over"), from sur- ("over") + veiller ("to watch"), ultimately from Latin vigilāre ("to be watchful").
Memory Hook
Break it into "sur-" (over, as in "super") + "veiller" (to watch, related to "vigil"): someone keeping a "super vigil" OVER you is conducting surveillance.
How This Word Works in UPSC Writing
The systematic monitoring of persons or areas to detect threats, and the term now covers two very different activities that answers should keep apart. Border surveillance is territorial and directed at a defined space, using radar, thermal imagers, unattended ground sensors, aerostats and unmanned aircraft to compensate for terrain that will not carry a fence. Mass surveillance of communications is directed at populations rather than places, and it is the second that raises the constitutional question. Puttaswamy in 2017 held privacy to be a fundamental right and laid down the test any intrusion must satisfy: legality, meaning an existing law; legitimate aim; proportionality, meaning the measure must be suitable and the least restrictive available; and procedural safeguards. The recurring Indian criticism is that interception is authorised by executive order under statutory rules rather than by judicial warrant, so the same branch that seeks access also approves it.
Don’t Confuse It With
Surveillance of a border is territorial and directed at a place, whereas mass surveillance is directed at populations and raises quite different constitutional questions. Targeted interception concerns identified individuals on stated grounds, while bulk collection gathers indiscriminately and filters afterwards. Metadata records who communicated with whom and when rather than what was said, and is often treated as less intrusive although it can be more revealing. The proportionality test from Puttaswamy is the standard any such intrusion must meet.
Hindi Meaning
निगरानी (nigrānī); आनुपातिकता (ānupātikatā) for proportionality.
Common Questions
- What test must state surveillance satisfy?
- The Puttaswamy test of legality, legitimate aim, proportionality including the least restrictive means, and adequate procedural safeguards.
- What is the difference between targeted interception and bulk collection?
- Targeted interception concerns identified persons on stated grounds, while bulk collection gathers communications indiscriminately and filters them afterwards.
Seen in UPSC Question Papers
- Mains 2018 · GS4 · 20 marks — Whistleblowing / Civil Disobedience / Privacy Ethics
Real UPSC previous-year questions whose text uses “Surveillance” — proof this word earns its place on your list.
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