Datafication technologies, counter-power and resistance at the EU Borders
A 2-day workshop on the datafication of the border regime, algorithmic systems of border security, and strategies of counter-power and resistance.
BACKGROUND TO THE WORKSHOP
The process of transforming our everyday lives into quantifiable data is also transforming borders and migration governance. Biographical data, fingerprints, facial image and genetic data are extracted from asylum-seekers and stored in information systems to implement border controls as well as asylum and migration policies in the EU. These systems are enhanced with algorithmic optimization systems, also referred as artificial intelligence (AI) or automated decision-making approaches, which are claimed to enable more efficient allocation of human and financial resources. Yet, little is known about how these technologies are designed, how they are acquired, what forms of accountability and oversight are at stake.
Moreover, researchers have shown that datafication technologies can intensify discrimination. Statistical errors inherent to many algorithms used at the EU borders can strongly impact on vulnerable subjects on the move, jeopardising human rights and putting their lives at risk. The myth of efficiency also needs to be called into question when calculating costs of the maintenance of these digital infrastructures or the energy consumption and carbon footprint.
Therefore, it is imperative to gain a better understanding of datafication technologies and the use of algorithms at the EU borders, and explore counterpower strategies to challenge these developments. For example, what methods have been used to analyse these technologies and their effects? Which other possibilities of resistance against datafied borders can be envisaged? To what extent can forms of litigation and legal activism be strategically mobilised?
This workshop will explore the EU’s and UK’s datafied border regime, the current algorithmic systems implemented in the field of border security, and the examples and strategies of counterpower and resistance in the European context. Firstly, we hope that the workshop can help produce a repository of methods for the study of datafication technologies, which can be shared with other actors. Secondly, we hope that exchanges between researchers, investigative journalists, civil society actors can help build better strategies of accountability and resistance.
The workshop will take place over two days, 6 July (from 09.45-13.00) and 7 July (13.45-17.00). All times are BST.
PANEL I:
Making datafied borders: private technologies, public money
Chair: Lucrezia Canzutti, King’s College London
Ana Valdivia, King’s College London
Neither Opaque nor Transparent: Datafication and Accountability at EU’s Borders
Edin Omanovic, Privacy International
Borders Without Borders: Migration and the Expansion of the Surveillance State
Javier Sánchez-Monedero, Universidad de Córdoba & Data Justice Lab
Emotional AI at the border: the case of iBorderCtrl
Mark Akkerman, Stop Wapenhandel
The border-industrial complex: lobbying for and profiting from increased border security and control
Martin Lemberg-Pedersen, University of Copenhagen
The political economy of data craving in migration management
Discussant: Anna Leander, Graduate Institute Geneva
DAY 1//
6th JULY
PANELS + SPEAKERS
Below are details of panels & speakers. For more information on times, additional readings/resources, please register.
PANEL II:
Researching data flows and the politics of data
Chair: Sarah Perret, King’s College London
Chris Jones, Statewatch
The EU's interoperability initiative: a control infrastructure in progress
Giulia Crescini, ASGI
Identification tools along the transit within externalization policies: an essential tool for the implementation of the new EU pact for migration
Lina Dencik and Philippa Metcalfe, Cardiff University & Data Justice Lab
Beyond data centrism in researching the politics of data
Sahdya Darr, Open Rights Group
Discussant: Claudia Aradau, King’s College London
DAY 1//
6th JULY
PANEL III:
Building counter-power, multiplying resistance
Chair: Ibtehal Hussain, King’s College London
Félix Tréguer, Sciences Po
Doing Action Research on Algorithmic Urban Policing: IA-Powered Surveillance, Elusive Democratic Oversight
José Bautista, Fundación porCausa
Migration Control Industry: auditing the public spending behind Spain's and EU's migration policies
Martina Tazzioli, Goldsmiths College, University of London
The technological disruptions of migration. Rethinking counter-powers and resistances beyond the repressive hypothesis
Tamás Molnár, EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
Large-scale EU systems and the rights of irregular migrants
José Pérez Lama, Indymedia Estrecho
Some brief notes on Indymedia Estrecho. Biopolitical production in the space of flows 2003-2007++
Discussant: Lucrezia Canzutti, King’s College London
PANEL IV:
Connecting: methods, counter-power, accountability
Chair: Ana Valdivia, King’s College London
Antonella Napolitano, Privacy International
Claudia Aradau, King’s College London
Making a difference at the datafied borders
Luisa Izuzquiza, FragDeenStaat & Abolish Frontex
Sarah Chander, EDRi
DAY 2//
7th JULY
DAY 2//
7th JULY
A PDF of the programme is available for download here
