Civic spaces where we are free to develop, protest and preserve our intergrity and autonomy are increasingly under threat as new surveillance technologies are radically transforming the ability of authorities to monitor them.

As migration continues to be high on the social and political agenda, Western countries are increasingly adopting an approach that criminalises people at the border. Asylum seekers are often targeted with intrusive surveillance technologies and afforded only limited rights (including in relation to data protection), often having the effect of being treated as “guilty until proven innocent”.

A recent report explains how the central German migration authority uses mobile phone extraction technology in the asylum application procedure, and why it is highly problematic.