Lecture by Evelien Brouwer

Discussant: Lilian Tsourdi

In the EU, but also elsewhere, border procedures have become increasingly technology-driven. Current border technologies include the collection and storage of biometric data, the use of DNA tests to investigate family ties, the withdrawal of information from smartphones, and sometimes even bodily or psychological tests to assess the credibility of migrants’ claims. Intensive screening at the borders as such is not new. Throughout the history of migration control, immigrants have been submitted to careful examination. What seems new however, is the high-scale and privacy invasive use of technologies to examine both identity, credibility, and security of ‘the migrant’. In her lecture, Brouwer will discuss the legitimacy of these measures in Europe, analyzing the different goals for which they are used, the fundamental rights at stake, and the differentiated treatment of migrants. She will specifically address the role of national courts assessing the use of these technologies, also taking into account case-law of the European Court for Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Union.