The EU Artificial Intelligence (AI) Act will be the first binding legislation on AI. It was proposed by the European Commission in April 2021 and it aims at promoting ‘trustworthy AI’ and, at the same time, protecting fundamental rights. However, the proposed law was not enough to address and prevent the harms stemming from the use of AI in the migration context.
From lie detectors to scanning drones, the European Union and its partners are building a vast and powerful web of surveillance and tracking at European borders, deep inside Europe, and beyond. But this is about much more than just border control.
These technologies are tested first on people on the move¹ and racialised communities where it is harder to fight back and challenge them.
Once the tech is in place, there’s no going back - and these dangerous experiments will shape how all of us live.
If the EU AI Act fails to prevent irreversible harms in migration it will undermine its very purpose - protecting the fundamental rights of all people affected by the use of AI.
¹ By people on the move, we mean migrants, asylum seekers, refugees and undocumented people. We recognise that this is an imperfect term and that not all people affected by such systems are 'on the move', and some may even have lived in the EU for a long time. However, with this term, we centre that those affected by such systems are people.
Some AI systems pose an unacceptable risk to our fundamental rights, and they will never be fixed either via technical means nor with some procedural safeguards. Lawmakers must ban:
Lawmakers must also ensure that the AI Act regulates any types of AI systems used in migration,
especially the surveillance technology used in the context of border control and for identity
checks. The EU AI Act will be an instrument of protection only if it does not leave anyone
behind.
All AI systems used in migration should be subject to oversight and accountability measures,
including surveillance technology used in the context of border control and for identity checks.
Article 83 must be amended to ensure AI as part of large-scale EU IT databases falls within the scope of the AI Act and that the necessary safeguards apply for uses of AI in the EU migration context.
There will never be justice without a system of accountability and transparency. The violence, the
push-backs and the deaths caused by AI systems will remain unknown if the AI Act fails to guarantee
people the right to challenge the violations they have suffered, and if public oversight is impeded.
Lawmakers must ensure the EU AI Act empowers people to seek justice, guarantee public transparency,
and prevent harm from the most harmful AI systems when used in migration and border control.
We’re urging EU institutions to ban the use of harmful tech used against people on the move and racialised communities and effectively regulate all AI systems used in migration.
Read our Joint Statement
‘EU Trilogues: The AI Act must protect people’s rights’
Digital Technology, Policing and Migration - What does it mean for undocumented migrants?
Regulating Migration Tech: How the EU’s AI Act can better protect people on the move
The EU AI Act: How to (truly) protect people on the move
Technological Testing Grounds: Migration Management Experiments and Reflections from the Ground Up
EU has spent over €340 million on border AI technology that new law fails to regulate
Black Book of Pushbacks
OHCHR: The Role of Technology in Illegal Pushbacks from Croatia to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia
Automating Immigration and Asylum: The Uses of New Technologies in Migration and Asylum Governance in Europe
Protecting migrants at borders and beyond
Digital Criminalisation: How Big Data & Technology Police Irregular Migration
The EU AI Act proposal: a timeline
EU Trilogues: The AI Act must protect people’s rights
Artificial Intelligence: the new frontier of the EU’s border externalisation strategy (EuroMed Rights)
Europe’s Techno-Borders (Statewatch and EuroMed Rights)
Historic vote in the European Parliament: dangerous AI surveillance banned, but not for migrant people at the borders
VIDEO - Nowhere to turn: How surveillance tech at the EU borders is endangering lives
AI Act: European Parliament endorses protections against AI in migration
WEBINAR - Will the AI Act #ProtectNotSurveil people on the move?
Civil society calls for the EU AI act to better protect people on the move
EU Member States’ Use of New Technologies in Enforced Disappearances
Automating Immigration and Asylum: The Uses of New Technologies in Migration and Asylum Governance in Europe
Submission to the European Commission Consultation: Security-Related Information Sharing
Migration and Tech Monitor
A clear and present danger: Missing safeguards on migration and asylum in the EU’s AI Act (Statewatch)
Digital technology, policing and migration – What does it mean for undocumented migrants? Briefing paper (PICUM)
10 threats to migrants and refugees (Privacy International)
Interactive storyboard on EU interoperable migration systems (PICUM)
Factsheet “How do the new EU regulations on interoperability lead to discriminatory policing?” (PICUM)
The #ProtectNotSurveil coalition is a group of activists, organisations, researchers and more working to ensure the EU AI Act safeguards people on the move from harms emanating from AI systems.
Our mission is to challenge the use of digital technologies at different levels of EU policies and advocate for the ability of people to move and to seek safety and opportunity without risking harm, surveillance or discrimination.
Our advocacy aims at holding accountable the EU, Member States and private companies profiting from human rights violations at and within the EU borders. We do so by connecting digital rights, migrant rights organisations and racial justice movements to challenge the techno-solutionist approaches in migration policies.
The coalition also includes more than 300 supporters,
who stay informed through our
newsletter,
support joint initiatives at the EU and national levels
and participate in our
events.
For more for information on the campaign and the work of the coalition,
email us at
info[at]protectnotsurveil.eu
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