Robo Swarms and Polygraphs: The Future of European Border Management and its Costs

Abstract

Borders have long been a testing ground for new technologies. Digital technologies, in particular, have transformed the way in which states manage migration in all its dimensions.

This chapter provides a glimpse into the technological future of European border management. It aims to bring together different strands of scholarship on EU border technology and its human rights implications to shed light on the overall trajectory and risks these developments entail. To do so, this chapter takes the two core tasks of border control as set out in the Schengen Borders Code as a starting point: border surveillance and border checks. For each of them, it picks two major types of AI applications that have been identified by the European Commission and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (Frontex) as priorities for the use of AI in EU border management. It sketches current uses and future plans of these technologies in EU border management, the main risks they pose to individual rights, and how the EU AI Act addresses them. Section 2 starts with border surveillance, where smart robots (Section 2.1) and big data predictive analytics (Section 2.2) play an ever more important role. Section 3 focuses on border checks, broadly speaking. It covers pre-embarkation checks, where authorities determine the risk profile of travellers through algorithmic means (Section 3.1). It then discusses checks at border crossing points, with a focus on the use of biometrics, in particular facial recognition technology (Section 3.2).

The chapter shows that the promises of AI for border management are also the main source of risk for individual rights. The EU AI Act sets out important safeguards but does not address the more systemic risks that border technology poses. Existing EU law, including constitutional and administrative procedure rights, to some degree can fill the gaps, but they will have to be expanded in scope so that they can effectively respond to the novel challenges that border technology poses.