Privacy International says biometric tracking of migrants in UK ‘intrusive’

Privacy International has found a biometric device used by the United Kingdom’s Home Office to track migrants “intrusive and stigmatizing by design.”

In technical research, the privacy advocacy group determined that so-called non-fitted devices (NFDs) used by the British authorities are “inhumane” and cited detrimental impacts to daily life and mental and physical wellbeing.

The NFDs used by the UK Home Office are small handheld devices which track and record a person’s GPS location 24/7, and request frequent biometric verification in the form of fingerprint scans. Most recently, migrants are being given Android phones that come equipped with a fingerprint scanner and GPS tracking.

The devices alert the individual at random intervals throughout the day, requesting their fingerprint scan, and verifying it against the biometric information stored on the device. In previous research, PI found the NFDs were sending the wearer alerts up to five times per day – but has since discovered that individuals can be sent many more alerts than this in a given day.

PI found the high volume of alerts, the erratic nature of the alerts, the unreasonable alert response times, and too-strict matching probabilities (such as unrealistically high percentage matches) contributed to the device’s inhumane and harmful effect.

Creating their own version of the app used by the Home Office, Privacy International’s tech researchers demonstrated that NFD technology has the capability of being much less intrusive and erratic, such as by having more structured alert time periods and more limited locational and biometric data collection.

Since PI found less intrusion was possible, the organization concluded that the Home Office did not adequately consider the human rights impact of the monitoring. “The human cost of these kinds of migration surveillance programmes are individuals who are made to feel like ‘caged animals,’” the report says, “constantly thinking about when the next alert might go off – when they are on a bus, seeing friends, or trying to sleep.”

PI recommended that the Home Office should consider more humane approaches to use of new technologies to ensure migrants do not feel further dehumanized. “They [Home Office] should instead take a deliberate approach to protect and respect their right to live in dignity, free from stigma and arbitrary surveillance as these individuals navigate an increasingly hostile environment,” the report argued.

PI stated that it would continue to investigate NFDs and the UK Home Office’s wider electronic monitoring.

Article Topics

biometric identification  |  biometrics  |  border security  |  GPS  |  identity verification  |  immigration  |  monitoring  |  Privacy International