Srinagar, July 4 -- I live in a world where my digital presence is constantly active. My phone tracks where I go, apps record what I search and consume, and sometimes I see ads about things I casually mentioned in conversation. Over time, I've started to feel like I'm under continuous observation-not by individuals, but by invisible systems I barely understand. What once felt like a strange glitch in the digital age now feels ordinary. But this normalization raises a critical question: have we unconsciously accepted surveillance as a permanent part of life, without realizing what we are surrendering in return?

To understand this shift, we can turn to the ideas of philosopher Michel Foucault. He introduced the concept of panopticism-a str...