Your identity is your brand. Can insurance protect it?
In January 2026, Bhuvan Bam won a court order protecting his identity, proving that your identity is your brand. But four months later, in May 2026, he had to return to court because deepfakes continued to appear. Shashi Tharoor discovered, mid-election, that a synthetic version of himself was praising Pakistan’s foreign policy online. Aman Gupta, the co-founder of boat, found explicit AI-generated content using his likeness on the open internet.
In the last two years, India’s courts have been flooded with personality rights cases, all of them driven by one thing: generative AI making it trivially easy to steal someone’s identity. A laptop, a free AI tool, and twenty minutes are all it takes for someone else to weaponise your identity against you.
And while the courts are responding, what about the financial damage to reputation, income, and legal costs?
The cases that are shaping the Law
The Delhi High Court has become the unlikely epicentre of a legal revolution around personality rights in India. Since 2022, it has handed down landmark orders protecting the personas of Amitabh Bachchan, Anil Kapoor, Jackie Shroff, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, and many others against AI-generated impersonation and deepfake content.
Some recent cases are:
Allu Arjun (Allu Arjun v. Frankly Retail Pvt. Ltd.): The actor approached the Delhi High Court over voice cloning, a fake “call Pushpa” interactive AI app, and obscene deepfake content, in addition to merchandise bearing his face and 26 registered trademarks being sold without consent. His counsel described the fake AI call app as “fertile ground for any kind of scam,” warning that it could be used to deceive fans and extract money from unsuspecting individuals.
Aman Gupta: The boAt co-founder and Shark Tank India judge secured an interim injunction in May 2026 protecting his personality rights against 44-plus entities misusing his name, likeness, voice, catchphrases, even creating explicit deepfake content. The court noted that the sexual material found required “immediate and urgent consideration.”
Shashi Tharoor: In March 2026, deepfake videos depicting the Congress MP as praising Pakistan’s diplomatic strategy spread virally timed, according to his suit, to damage him during Kerala election campaigning. The Delhi High Court granted an interim injunction, with the court observing that Tharoor’s standing as a former UN Under-Secretary-General meant fabricated statements on foreign policy carried real geopolitical weight.
Others including Sonakshi Sinha, Mohanlal, Shilpa Shetty and the late Ratan Tata’s estate have all sought similar protection. Indian courts now treat a celebrity’s voice, mannerisms, expressions, and cultural recall as a legally protectable interest, even without a dedicated statute.
The gaps
India currently has no single law on personality rights. Courts weave together Article 21 of the Constitution (privacy and dignity), Section 38 of the Copyright Act (performer’s rights), trademark law, and common law passing-off to grant relief. The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) released draft amendments to the IT Intermediary Guidelines in October 2025 addressing synthetic content, a welcome step, though experts note that precise standards for enforcement remain a work in progress.
This means that while courts respond with urgency, individuals must still fund and navigate expensive, time-consuming litigation to protect what is essentially a fundamental right.
What about insurance?
Courts can issue injunctions. They can order takedowns. They cannot, on their own, compensate for the financial harm already done, lost endorsement deals, damaged brand value, crisis communications costs, or legal fees running into lakhs.
This is where insurance can play an important role. Several products, individually or in combination, are relevant:
- Cyber Insurance is the most immediate tool. Globally, insurers like Coalition have begun explicitly covering deepfake-related incidents, including reputational harm, forensic analysis, and legal support for takedowns. According to a 2025 Swiss Re SONAR report, deepfakes are increasingly driving cyber insurance losses, and the product line is evolving rapidly to address identity-based threats. In India, cyber policies are available and growing and public figures, businesses, and even high-profile individuals can seek coverage that includes response costs for impersonation events.
- Media Liability / Errors & Omissions Insurance can protect content creators and production companies from third-party claims arising from the use (or misuse) of AI-generated content.
- Directors’ & Officers’ (D&O) Insurance becomes relevant when deepfakes impersonate corporate executives, particularly in scenarios designed to defraud investors or trigger financial transactions (in the US, the American Bar Association’s insurance coverage journal has specifically flagged this risk.)
- Reputation / Brand Protection Coverage while still nascent in India, covers lost income from reputational damage, crisis PR costs, and income loss during a reputational event. This is a natural fit for celebrities and influencers whose earnings are directly tied to public perception.
A gap India needs to close
In India, awareness and sometimes availability of these coverage options remains limited.
The real opportunity is broader than celebrities. Entrepreneurs, politicians, doctors, educators, influencers, and even ordinary individuals with any kind of public digital presence are all potential targets. The rise of social media platforms and generative AI changed the nature of misuse – deepfakes, voice cloning, and synthetic endorsements now spread at speed, reaching millions within minutes.
For most people, a court order is a remedy of last resort. Insurance is what bridges the gap between harm and recovery, covering legal costs, lost income, and crisis response while the courts work.
Whether you are a public figure or a private individual with a professional digital presence, you can reach out to insurancepe about:
- Cyber insurance that covers impersonation and deepfake incidents
- Reputation protection riders where available
- D&O or professional indemnity if you hold an executive or advisory role
Your identity is one of your most valuable assets. In the age of generative AI, protecting it can no longer be an afterthought.
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