Counterterrorism training in artificial intelligence (AI) has turned international security layouts upside down. Such AI-oriented technologies are often motivated by state power through mechanisms like predictive policing systems, biometric surveillance systems, or even machine-augmented threat spotting. Yet, such services also pose grave threats to the essence of fundamental human rights, including privacy, due process, and nondiscrimination. A 2021 UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report is sounding the alarm about the violations perpetrated through AI’s unlawful, unchecked applications in security operations. This article scrutinizes the law and ethics of AI for counterterrorism purposes in light of its implications for human rights and data protection. Using a doctrinal legal research lens, it conducts a comparative analysis between international mechanisms (ICCPR, UDHR), inter-regional treaties (GDPR, Convention 108+), and national legislations (India’s IT Rules, 2021; DPDP Act, 2023), and secondary literature as well as reports on human rights. Its salient challenges relate to facial recognition of public places, predictive profiling, drone surveillance, and the use of “black-box” AI solutions with minimum transparency or oversight. The study concludes that most countries lack obligatory mechanisms to ensure accountability and compliance with human rights. It supports mandatory impact assessments, ethics-by-design approaches, and independent regulatory examination of AI in counterterrorism. Lastly, the chapter suggests that safeguarding human rights while adopting AI innovation is not only essential but a democratic necessity.