Biometric ‘permission to travel’ scheme in Borders Bill will affect tens of millions of people
The attack on the asylum system proposed by the UK government in the Nationality and Borders Bill has provoked outrage. However, the Bill also includes proposals to introduce an electronic 'permission to travel' scheme that would involve gathering biometric and other data from tens of millions of people. The UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) is conducting legislative scrutiny on the Bill. EDRi's member Statewatch submitted written observations to the inquiry last week.
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Biometric ‘permission to travel’ scheme in Borders Bill will affect tens of millions of people
The attack on the asylum system proposed by the UK government in the Nationality and Borders Bill has provoked outrage. However, the Bill also includes proposals to introduce an electronic 'permission to travel' scheme that would involve gathering biometric and other data from tens of millions of people. The UK Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) is conducting legislative scrutiny on the Bill. EDRi's member Statewatch submitted written observations to the inquiry last week.
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Eurodac: Council seeks swift agreement on expanded migrant biometric database
The Slovenian Presidency of the Council is planning to accelerate negotiations on a vast expansion of the Eurodac database, which will hold sensitive data on millions of asylum seekers and migrants in an irregular situation, by 'delinking' the proposed rules from other EU asylum and migration laws under discussion.
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Digital Dignity Document Pool
Digital technologies can have a profound effect on our societies, but sufficient attention is rarely given to how certain applications differentiate between, target and experiment on communities at the margins. This document pool gathers resources for those that are interested in learning about and contesting the harms to dignity and equality that arise from uses of technology and data.
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Intensified surveillance at EU borders: EURODAC reform needs a radical policy shift
In an open letter addressed to the European Parliament Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee, 34 organisations protecting the rights of people on the move, children and digital rights including European Digital Rights (EDRi) urge policymakers to radically change the direction of the EURODAC reform – the European Union (EU) database storing asylum seekers’ and migrants’ personal data - in order to respect fundamental rights and international law.
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Who, What, Why? Your guide to all things ECI! #ReclaimYourFace
Calling all digital rights heroes: EDRi needs your support! As part of the Reclaim Your Face campaign, we are running a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) to ban biometric mass surveillance practices in the EU. To be successful, we need to collect 1 million signatures. Read more to find out how we keep ECI data safe, and how your signature can make a big difference.
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Roma & Sinti rights, Resistance & Facial Recognition: RYF in Conversation…
For communities that have been historically sidelined, the promises of digitalisation can instead become a vessel for yet more discrimination and unequal treatment. Facial recognition in particular has a sinister and dark history which links to the persecution of Romani communities. If you missed our webinar on Roma and Sinti rights and the rise of facial recognition across Europe, you can catch up here and learn what the digital rights community can and should do!
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Romani rights and biometric mass surveillance
The rights of Romani people should be an important topic for anyone that cares about digital rights. In this blog, hear from experts in Roma, Sinti and digital rights about why facial recognition is an important issue (and what the rest of the digital rights community can learn), and check out the Reclaim Your Face campaign’s first ever resource in the Sinti language!
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No place for emotion recognition technologies in Italian museums
An Italian museum trials emotion recognition systems, despite the practice being heavily criticised by data protection authorities, scholars and civil society. The ShareArt system collects, among others, age, gender and emotions of people. EDRi member Hermes Center called the DPA for an investigation.
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They can hear you: 6 ways tech is listening to you
Voice recognition technology often violates human rights, and it’s popping up more and more. Recently EDRi's member Access Now called out Spotify for developing voice recognition tech that claims to be able to detect gender and emotional state, among other things. But it’s not just Spotify. Some of the most powerful companies in the world are deploying similar abusive tech because harvesting data about you is profitable. The market for voice recognition is growing, expected to be worth a whopping $26.8 billion by 2025.
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EU privacy regulators and Parliament demand AI and biometrics red lines
In their Joint Opinion on the AI Act, the EDPS and EDPB “call for [a] ban on [the] use of AI for automated recognition of human features in publicly accessible spaces, and some other uses of AI that can lead to unfair discrimination”. Taking the strongest stance yet, the Joint Opinion explains that “intrusive forms of AI – especially those who may affect human dignity – are to be seen as prohibited” on fundamental rights grounds.
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Biometric mass surveillance flourishes in Germany and the Netherlands
In a new research report, EDRi reveals the shocking extent of biometric mass surveillance practices in Germany, the Netherlands and Poland which are taking over our public spaces like train stations, streets, and shops. The EU and its Member States must act now to set clear legal limits to these practices which create a state of permanent monitoring, profiling and tracking of people.
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New EDRi report reveals depths of biometric mass surveillance in Germany, the Netherlands and Poland
In a new research report, EDRi reveals the shocking extent of unlawful biometric mass surveillance practices in Germany, the Netherlands and Poland which are taking over our public spaces like train stations, streets, and shops. The EU and its Member States must act now to set clear legal limits to these practices which create a state of permanent monitoring, profiling and tracking of people.
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