A look into how migrants are being tracked through an expanding global surveillance ecosystem and what this means for privacy, fundamental rights, and access to protection.
- Surveillance technologies are increasingly being used throughout the migration journey, extending far beyond borders and detention facilities to monitor people before, during and after migration.
- Tools such as facial recognition, biometric databases, social media monitoring, GPS tracking and AI-driven systems can undermine fundamental rights, including privacy, freedom of movement and due process.
- Privacy International's global survey highlights growing concerns over the lack of oversight, accountability and safeguards surrounding the use of these technologies.
Governments around the world are building increasingly sophisticated surveillance infrastructures to monitor migrants, asylum seekers and refugees at borders and within countries.
Technologies ranging from GPS tracking and social media monitoring to facial recognition, biometric databases and artificial intelligence are being deployed in the name of border security and immigration control.
Yet their use often comes at the expense of fundamental rights, including privacy, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, due process and access to protection.
Based on a global survey of immigration lawyers, advocates and organisers, Privacy International's guide, “Watch Your Step: A Guide to the Technologies Harming Migrants” examines the growing role of these technologies in migration governance and the risks they pose to people already in a vulnerable position.
Drawing on experiences reported by practitioners across multiple regions, the guide maps a broad range of surveillance technologies currently used in migration contexts. These include:
- mobile phone extraction tools capable of accessing intimate personal data
- drones and thermal cameras used to monitor border crossings
- facial recognition and biometric systems that identify and track individuals
- social media intelligence tools that analyse online activity
- GPS tagging and digital tracking devices
- algorithmic and automated decision-making systems
- IMSI catchers that intercept mobile communications
- language recognition software
- age assessment methods such as bone and dental scanning.
Migration surveillance is no longer limited to border checkpoints or immigration detention facilities, and with the continued investment in artificial intelligence, biometric systems and other emerging technologies it is becoming a pervasive, interconnected system that follows people throughout their journeys and long after arrival.
This expanding ecosystem raises vital questions about oversight, accountability and the commercial incentives shaping migration policies, ones which risk violating the privacy of the vulnerable and the fundamental rights to dignity, freedom of movement, freedom of expression and due process that should be afforded to all people - regardless of their immigration status.
Ultimately, understanding how these technologies operate and the harms they can enable is an essential first step towards ensuring that innovation is not used to entrench surveillance, discrimination and exclusion.
Facts Only
* Surveillance technologies are used throughout the migration journey, including before, during, and after migration.
* Tools such as facial recognition, biometric databases, social media monitoring, GPS tracking, and AI-driven systems are deployed in migration contexts.
* Privacy International's global survey highlights concerns over the lack of oversight, accountability, and safeguards surrounding these technologies.
* Governments are building surveillance infrastructures to monitor migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees at borders and within countries.
* Technologies deployed include mobile phone extraction tools, drones, facial recognition systems, biometric databases, social media intelligence tools, GPS tagging devices, algorithmic decision-making systems, IMSI catchers, language recognition software, and age assessment methods.
* The use of these technologies often occurs at the expense of privacy, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, due process, and access to protection.
Executive Summary
Surveillance technologies are increasingly employed throughout the migration journey, extending beyond borders and detention facilities to monitor individuals before, during, and after migration. Tools such as facial recognition, biometric databases, social media monitoring, GPS tracking, and AI-driven systems are being utilized for border security and immigration control. This deployment of technology raises concerns regarding fundamental rights, including privacy, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, due process, and access to protection. A global survey by Privacy International indicates growing concern over the lack of oversight and accountability surrounding the use of these technologies.
Governments worldwide are developing sophisticated surveillance infrastructures to monitor migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees at borders and within territories. The specific technologies mapped include mobile phone extraction tools, drones, facial recognition systems, biometric databases, social media intelligence tools, GPS tagging devices, algorithmic decision-making, IMSI catchers, language recognition software, and age assessment methods like bone scanning. This expansive system follows people throughout their journeys and post-arrival periods.
Full Take
The deployment of advanced surveillance technologies across migration pathways creates a systemic tension between state security objectives and fundamental human rights. The pattern observed is the extension of physical control mechanisms into the digital and temporal domains of migration, shifting governance from territorial checkpoints to continuous individual tracking. This move reflects an underlying assumption that technological capability inherently translates into legitimate administrative authority, leading to structures where surveillance becomes the default mode for managing vulnerability rather than a measured response to specific security threats.
The framework suggests that the integration of technologies like facial recognition and AI-driven systems is not merely an operational choice but a strategy for solidifying exclusion. When mechanisms for accountability are absent, or when the commercial incentives driving this expansion are prioritized over established rights, the resulting system risks entrenching existing power asymmetries. The potential harm lies in normalizing constant tracking, which erodes the possibility of movement and expression based on immigration status.
The critical implication is whether the pursuit of border security justifies the imposition of a pervasive, interconnected monitoring structure on mobile, physical, and digital life. Questions arise regarding who defines legitimate oversight mechanisms when these systems are integrated across global infrastructures, and how this operational reality impacts the agency of vulnerable populations seeking protection or movement. What alternative frameworks for migration governance exist that prioritize human dignity over automated control?