justice, or marginalized populations. While private firms may be restrained by market pressure or regulation, state-led systems often operate under looser accountability regimes, especially in semi-authoritarian or hybrid regimes common in parts of Southeast Asia. The Promise and Peril of Technologies in Development Agendas In this era of digitalization and interconnectedness, emerging technologies, ranging from digital platforms to artificial intelligence, have become integral to development programs. Countries have sought to capitalise on the promised potential of technologies for more effective governance, from predictive analytics in public health to digital ID systems for aid delivery. In theory, these tools can promote efficiency, reduce leakage, and personalize services for marginalized populations. For example, machine learning models are being used to map out poverty hotspots while satellite imagery is used to develop Geographic Information System (GIS) to forecast agricultural yields for climate-vulnerable communities in developing countries, such as Thailand and India (Asian Development Bank (ADB) 2021; Gulecha and Reshmi 2024; Xie et al. 2016). Agentic and predictive AI tools have been introduced to streamline data processing and minimizing human errors in multiple sectors, including healthcare and defence. However, these benefits can mask a darker reality: development initiatives often collect vast amounts of personal and biometric data with limited oversight. As Zuboff (2019) explains in her theory of surveillance capitalism that socioeconomic and personal data can be repurposed for profit or political control, transforming individuals into "data subjects" rather than empowered citizens. While surveillance capitalism focuses on the entrenched data collection done by digital platforms for profit-oriented goals, it can also be extended to produce a more robust understanding about public-private collusion in the digital sphere. On one hand, the co-optation between the big tech companies as suppliers of data and sovereign states as users of data can result in development projects that serve as testing grounds for surveillance tools. On the other hand, it means that states have relatively low incentives to reign in platforms’ broad public surveillance capabilities despite it being an invasion of privacy to users who do not want their private experience to be owned by a company. In Southeast Asia, a complex relationship between digital development, internet freedom, and state control often reflects a global trend towards reduced internet freedom despite advancements in digital infrastructure. Many countries in Southeast Asia have made significant progress in developing their digital infrastructure and implementing e- 2