AI-Driven Border Surveillance Raises Rights Concerns in Europe
As the European Union strengthens its borders and seeks to manage migration, a growing reliance on artificial intelligence technologies is drawing criticism from civil society groups and legal experts. Concerns center on a perceived double standard, where stringent data protection rules applicable to EU citizens are not extended to migrants and asylum seekers.
The EU has spent hundreds of millions of euros on AI-driven border technologies, including lie detectors, speech recognition tools, and drones, according to available data. This investment is occurring alongside a broader digitization of border management, as outlined in the EU’s Migration and Asylum Pact.
Critics warn that technologies initially developed for migration control are likely to be repurposed for domestic law enforcement, blurring the lines between border security and internal surveillance. “This doesn’t just stop at the border,” said Petra Molnar, a researcher at Harvard University, as reported by The Parliament. “It’s about normalization of surveillance in other facets of public life.”
Increased Funding, Limited Safeguards
Between 2007 and 2020, the European Union allocated €341 million to border control projects incorporating AI, according to research from Statewatch. Since 2020, funding for border control programs available to member states has increased by 45%, with over 70% directed towards new infrastructure, including AI tools and data systems.
Despite the EU’s adoption of the AI Act in March 2024 – a landmark piece of legislation intended to establish risk-based rules for AI systems – loopholes allow for broad use of the technology in migration and security contexts. While the AI Act banned facial recognition technologies and criminal risk assessments, it permits the use of tools like lie detectors and mobile phone extraction systems with oversight. Other AI migration technologies, such as forecasting tools used to predict irregular migration flows, face few regulatory safeguards.
Wael Qarssifi, a former migration and technology fellow at the Migration and Technology Monitor, stated that migrants and EU citizens exist in a legal “parallel reality” under the AI Act. This disparity raises ethical concerns and potentially undermines the Treaty of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.
AI Deployment Across European Borders
As of 2023, AI migration technologies were being tested or used by national authorities in 11 countries, according to a report authored by Derya Ozkul of the University of Warwick.
Lie detection technologies are being trialed in Greece, Latvia, and Hungary, while mobile phone data extraction is used in Norway, Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands. Authorities are also employing AI to verify documents, assess security risks, recognize regional dialects of asylum seekers, collect biometric data, and pilot drones in the Mediterranean.
Greece has been particularly active in deploying AI-driven border surveillance. The Automated Border Surveillance System combines drones, cameras, detectors, and AI to monitor the Greco-Turkish border and the Aegean Sea. Greece has received over €1 billion in EU funding for border management between 2021 and 2027.
ETIAS and Data Protection Concerns
The upcoming implementation of ETIAS, the European Travel Information and Authorization System, scheduled for the end of 2026, is also under scrutiny. Designed to screen travelers for security and irregular migration risks, ETIAS’s extensive data collection and integration into EU-wide databases have raised privacy concerns.
A case brought by the Ligue des Droits Humains and referred to the Court of Justice of the European Union in December argues that ETIAS constitutes a “disproportionate interference” with the “fundamental rights” of migrants, citing the legislation’s broad definition of “risk.” A ruling from the CJEU is expected within the coming year.
Catherine Forget, the lawyer litigating the case, told The Parliament that the system represents “crimmigration, not only about the fight against serious crime, but also immigration more broadly.”
the EU’s Eurodac system will soon begin collecting facial images and identity documents, including data on children as young as six years old, under the new Migration and Asylum Pact.
As Europe continues to fortify its borders with AI-powered technologies, the tension between its commitment to human rights and its security priorities remains a central challenge.
