The 'Smartification' of EU Borders: When 'Smart' Technology Does Not Come with 'Smart' Safeguards

Abstract

The past years have been marked by the introduction of more and more technologies for border control at the external borders of the EU. Innovative as these developments are, they also hide certain risks for the passengers, mostly with regards to their rights to privacy and data protection. The paper sets out to examine the privacy and data protection concerns which two recent EU proposals pose, namely the new proposal on the Entry/Exit System (EES) and on Automated Border Control (ABC). The main purpose of the discussion is (1) to examine the concerns that the two above-mentioned legal proposals raise and (2) to make recommendations on improvements to these proposals with regards to better privacy and data protection compliance. The main topics discussed are the necessity, proportionality and feasibility of the proposed technical innovations, as well as the required safeguards for the passengers who will use them.

Keywords: Entry/Exit System (EES), Automated Border Control, biometrics, safeguards, central databases