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Europe is Using Smartphone Data as a Weapon To Deport Refugees (wired.co.uk)
Governments are using migrants' smartphones to deport them. From a report: Across the continent, migrants are being confronted by a booming mobile forensics industry that specialises in extracting a smartphone's messages, location history, and even WhatsApp data. That information can potentially be turned against the phone owners themselves. In 2017 both Germany and Denmark expanded laws that enabled immigration officials to extract data from asylum seekers' phones. Similar legislation has been proposed in Belgium and Austria, while the UK and Norway have been searching asylum seekers' devices for years.
Following right-wing gains across the EU, beleaguered governments are scrambling to bring immigration numbers down. Tackling fraudulent asylum applications seems like an easy way to do that. As European leaders met in Brussels last week to thrash out a new, tougher framework to manage migration -- which nevertheless seems insufficient to placate Angela Merkel's critics in Germany -- immigration agencies across Europe are showing new enthusiasm for laws and software that enable phone data to be used in deportation cases. Admittedly, some refugees do lie on their asylum applications.
Following right-wing gains across the EU, beleaguered governments are scrambling to bring immigration numbers down. Tackling fraudulent asylum applications seems like an easy way to do that. As European leaders met in Brussels last week to thrash out a new, tougher framework to manage migration -- which nevertheless seems insufficient to placate Angela Merkel's critics in Germany -- immigration agencies across Europe are showing new enthusiasm for laws and software that enable phone data to be used in deportation cases. Admittedly, some refugees do lie on their asylum applications.
I would say most lie.
Only Syrians have a legitimate case for asylum right now. Most come from north african failed states for economic reasons.
Useful idiots like Merkel just brought on the much needed police state. Once those pesky rapefugees are gone, they'll be using those tools on the native population.
All apart of the plan.
Why is this even "news?"
Europe is using smartphone data as a tool to help repatriate lost runaways.
" Admittedly, some refugees do lie on their asylum applications."
Who writes this stuff? There is a difference between an asylum seeker and an immigrant and a migrant and an illegal immigrant. To conflate it all is disingenuous.
It seems the headline is flat out lies, and they are not deporting refugees but economic migrants fraudulently applying for asylum. These people have entered the country illegally and should be deported immediately.
Of course, about 99% of so-called asylum seekers are illegal immigrants who have destroyed their documentation so they can claim to be from a war zone. It's good that action is being taken to deport these illegal immigrants, but it's rather too late now that millions have already been let i
The only hope for Europe now are the Visegrad nations. Western Europe is fucked.
Keep the NSA phone database away from ICE.
There was a video series back in the mid-00s that covered a whole plan intended to do this very thing. Destabilize each of the continents/regions, push for police state powers and biometric national identities, then consolidate each region into its own meta-nation, before finally merging them into a whole. While that last phase hasn't been broached yet, the other phases mentioned in the video series seem like they are well on the way.
The proper word is "migrants", not refugees.
Refugees aren't being deported (unless they have been extraordinarily naughty). You get deported (maybe, sometimes, if officials can be bothered or if you drag out your appeal for so long that they give up, and if you do not make too much of a scene) when your asylum claim is rejected. And plenty of rejected applicants are not deported, they just hang around. Hoping for another mass pardon of illegal immigrants, perhaps.
Separating actual refugees from immigrants with other motivations is vitally important, to make sure we can financially, politically and socially afford to take in as many actual refugees as needed. It's not unreasonable to ask applicants to provide proof to support their claim, and that includes submitting mobile phone data. As long as it is treated as the highly sensitive data that it is, with only relevant portions being retained and only for as long as necessary.
If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
Did no-one read "1984" ? Why would anyone willingly carry around, and *pay for*, a constant self-surveillance, self-tracking device?
When TRUMP deports people it's racist but when Denmark does it, it's progressive.
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I use a landline, they'll NEVER know where I am!!!
Millions of common people tired of being overrun by economic migrants.
Maw! Fire up the karma burner!
in considering your application they should have the full rights to look through all the evidence available.
A smartphone holds a lot of info that would prove either way if you are a legitimate asylum seeker or not.
I also disapprove of the emotive language being used to color the story in a certain narrative direction, that being the word 'weapon'.
This looks more like a political story wrapped up with a few tech points which makes it hardly worth of discussing in its current context.
Useful idiots like Merkel just brought on the much needed police state. Once those pesky rapefugees are gone, they'll be using those tools on the native population.
All apart of the plan.
Useful idiots like Merkel just brought on the much needed police state. Once those pesky rapefugees are gone, they'll be using those tools on the native population.
All apart of the plan.
Yeah, right. About that...
It would appear that unrestricted immigration and taking refugees is something the people don't want, both in the EU and here in the US.
In the US we allow about 1.1 million legal immigrants per year, which is generous in comparison to any other country. That's enough to skew the economy, make jobs hard to get, and puts a burden on the infrastructure. Letting unrestricted migrants in could cripple the country, possibly bring it down.
Non-citizens can apparently vote, and there's a big push in CA to force the census bureau to remove the citizenship question in the next census.
After the census is tallied, it means that CA gets 3 [US House] more representatives due to non-citizens, and for all states non-citizens total about 7 house representatives.
(Question: Is giving non-citizens legislative power like that insane? Asking for a friend...)
I have no Earthly idea why Merkel and the rest of the EU is so hell-bent on getting more refugees. Refugees are causing a lot of problems, it's clearly something the member states don't want, and there's apparently no end in sight. The whole refugee thing started because of Arab Spring (remember that?), which was 8 years ago!
My best guess is that being called "nazi" is still a big thing in Europe, and they'll do anything to save face and avoid being called that name. Trash their own country by virtue signalling.
Anyway...
The basic problem is that the people really don't want unrestricted immigration. It's something that people can readily see, and that affects them directly. Trump's approval rating actually went *up* during the recent protests.
When the government does something the people *really* don't like, it's the government that has to change.
The way these idiots go on, it's apparent they care more about foreigners than their native citizens. The idea that mass immigration might be harmful doesn't even cross their minds. Even if it does, they pay it no heed.
and if you're not prepared to take a call for a job interview 24/7 it goes to the next guy. We live in the world we're born in, not the one we want. And for a variety of reasons we're limited in our ability to change it.
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Using a "weapon" against invaders??
This is the same thing that needs to happen in the U.S. And it all starts with being able to control the border, which means a wall.
I'm a big believer in allowing everybody who isn't a criminal or a terrorist to enter the U.S.. Quotas were an abomination imposed on us by Progressive to keep Eastern Europeans, Jews and anyone not white out of the U.S. It's time to get rid of them.
At the same time reasonable requirements, such as those listed by that's-so-kash need to enacted as part of the package. We want immigrants who will add to our diversity while still assimilating to our culture, not people seeking to replace our culture with the same dumpster fire they are trying to get away from.
it's the ones escaping violence. The actual refugees. The economic migrants come to your country for a better life. They integrate well into society. The refugees are forced out by violence. They don't want to be in your country, they want to go home. So they don't integrate.
I think it'd be less of an issue without religion and religious differences. Europe's been secularizing for decades and having a huge influx of folks with strong beliefs and a general desire to have everyone think and act like they do is bound to make people nervous. I don't have a short term solution, but long term it would help if I could get my country (America) to stop fucking with the middle east in order to maintain our Military Industrial Complex. Maybe Bernie Sanders will win the presidency and we'll start pulling back. Hopefully Trump doesn't get us in a war with Iran in the meantime.
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This collides head on with the freshly implemented EU GDPR and will have Amnesty International legal Teams all over it in 5 minutes or so.
Unless there's been a crime and police is allowed to investigate. Lying about your status or collection welfare at multiple points is fraud and a crime. Then they can search your ass.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
They are using it to deport migrants lying about being refugees.
And I am sure that if you life is on the line, looking at your smart phone can't be a problem.
L'Idiot
What will Europe do with the looming shortage of rape apes and groping jungle bunnies?
I suggest we send them Bill Cosby, asap!
This seems really smart. Nice work EU!
CAPTCHA: customs
The main issue I have with those requirements is the requirement to learn the "native language". The US doesn't have one. Some states have official languages, but even then, you've got more than one - New Mexico declared both English and Spanish official languages. Hawaiian is an official language in Hawaii, French in Louisiana, and Alaska has 21 official languages (most of which are actual native languages).
I also think that the language issue takes care of itself after the first generation. You're not going to find many second generation immigrants from anywhere who still don't know the main language where they move. The inconvenience of not knowing it far outweighs the difficulty of learning it, so they learn it.
I don't see this as a "weapon", it's more properly attributed "defence against". That's not a hair-thin line, it's a fucking abyss.
So we have illegal migrants complaining that they have their phones searched for evidence of breaking immigration laws. This is not how people take a case to court, even in the court of public opinion.
Here's an example for you, admittedly about a different law. I recall a few years ago reading about people being shot in Chicago a week apart with similar circumstances. The person shot was a known criminal that had broken into a home, the homeowner that shot the criminal had done so with an unregistered firearm. In most places in the USA no one is required to register a firearm because that is considered a violation of the rights as protected by the US Constitution. These two homeowners were not charged with having an unregistered firearm, and in fact were not charged of any crime. Why is that? Because people are not likely to put anyone in prison over defending their own home even if that meant they broke several laws to do so. Every time a person goes to court so does the law.
You want me to be sympathetic on the plight of people having their phones searched? How about finding a person I might have a reason to find sympathy? I don't much care if admitted criminals have their phones searched to find out how they broke the law. We know they came to Germany by overland from somewhere that is not a neighbor. Therefore they are obligated to declare asylum in the first nation in which they are safe. Failing to do so is a violation of the law in most every nation. I agree that searching cell phones to find out which nation that might be is poor form, at best. Searching personal phones for evidence to use against a person is a violation of rights as I understand personal rights. Perhaps I'm merely exposing my US-centered world view but don't like this idea much at all. Here's the thing though, we know they broke the law and all the searching the phone does is expose just how severely they broke the law and/or what to do with the person once the process of proving they broke the law is complete.
Everyone deserves their day in court if accused of a crime. People should feel secure from unlawful search by a government agent, regardless of the nation. What I'm finding real hard to do is feel sympathy for criminals being searched when we know they broke the law.
Someone wiser than I pointed out the best way to stop a bad law is strict enforcement. You want that law on searching phones overturned? Then find a police officer that searched the phone of an old lady that was accused of jaywalking. That's going to get people's sympathy. You want the law on requiring homeowners to register their firearms in Illinois overturned? Then charge a person that just killed a home intruder with having an unregistered firearm. The powers that be know this, and so they often deny the ability for someone to challenge a bad law in court by not enforcing the law against someone that a judge and/or jury might find sympathy.
One more thing... These people are fleeing shithole nations so that they can find a better life elsewhere. I'm fine with that so long as they do so with the intent to "when in Rome do as the Romans do". If they come to Germany, Denmark, or the USA then they need to learn the language of the nation they came to, find a job, and obey the laws. Germany has gained an international reputation for taking refugees, and I believe that this is the compassionate thing to do and a model for all nations to follow. What has happened is that people believe that they can break the law and still get to be a refugee. That's not how this works, and that's not how it should work. Either fix up your shithole nation so you don't have to flee or leave by the legal means as dictated by international law and the laws of the nation you wish to obtain sanctuary.
If you break the law to get into another nation then I'm not going to care much if the nation treats you like a criminal.
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
This one. Want to stop the immigration wave? So stop destroying and harming the countries where these immigrants are coming from. Pretty simple right?
Immigrants do not risk their lives trying to enter countries like the US because they "wanted to", the vast majority of them are fleeing from misery or war in their countries of origin, misery and war almost always caused to fatten the bank accounts of a half dozen operators of Wall Street.
Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
Just another reminder that the EU's supposedly robust privacy protections target (successful American) corporations while allowing government snooping to proceed apace.
They already throw away they passports.
Now they will just get rid of the phone.
Yay.. Big problem. Not.
He related that manyl of the refugees he'd come across seemed to have managed to lose all of their identity papers and documents, but all of them seemed to have been able to hold on to their smartphones and selfie sticks.
There is no God, and Dirac is his prophet.
Bollocks. A lot of the places in the world have always been completely broken.
They are illegal migrants, not refugees.
It's just an excuse for the haves in this world to deny the have-nots a fair shake at a better life. Also, some are trying to escape the horrendous condition that exist in their own countries. Why can't we just show a little compassion to these less fortunate folks? Is that so much to ask? Especially when we have so much and they have so little.
All sorts of technology is used to select the fake refugees from the real ones.
So if you claim you come from Neverwereistan, your phone data should not indicate that you really come from Somewherelsistan.
Also, they really compare the photo on the passport with your face, so be sure they match as well.
Last time Sweden destroyed a country was IIRC somewhere in the 1800s. And as far as I remember it was not Syria.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
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The population of the EU is around 511 million. So far this year, 42,000 undocumented migrants have entered Europe. Compared to the population of the EU, that's a rounding error. The EU can easily accommodate the numbers of refugees coming in. The EU is not overwhelmed or being flooded by migrants and anyone publishing headlines or broadcasting news to that effect shouldn't be considered journalists (journalists are supposed to report facts, their implications, and keep things in perspective). Additionally, every EU country has ratified the UNHCR Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. In other words, EU member countries have a legal obligation to accommodate refugees.
Debate is a form of harassment. Do not question my truth.
There are many refugees with made-up dramas, and it is nearly impossible to divide those who really are in danger from those who just want a job and could not get one in their home country because of the uncontrolled population growth. I know one case where a refugee was accepted but always talks about travelling to her home country to visit her family. Refugees in Germany do not get a passport, but a travel document which allows them to travel anywhere but not to their home country - because they are refugees after all.
To help real refugees I suggest to introduce an EU asylum where the refugees are spread to all member states and cannot choose where to go. If they are in danger of life, they will accept any safe location. If it is only for economic reasons, they will get discouraged. Language skills can be respected, as long as the limit is not reached for a member state - to ease integration. I really want to help people in need, but the first world countries cannot feed all the people coming from huge and poor families, the population growth is exponential. It is better to help with education in family planning and sterilization methods for those unable to control themselves. We cannot continue like this and destroy the last woods, the rainforests, and fill the earth with trash.
Of course, throwing bombs produces hatred, terrorism and refugees. The countries waging war in the world shall be held responsible and pay for the refugees. I am ashamed about the German aggressions in Syria, we have no right to be there because we are not invited by the president. Not everyone is a follower of Merkel here.
Lots of places came out of it. Unless you believe the ones that didn't are somehow less human or inferior humans then you're forced to admit that there's another reason why these places are still hell holes while places like Israel are not (calling them out because they're one of the best examples of a middle east nation doing well, and because we heavily support them instead of screwing with them).
Iran was modernizing until we replaced their democratically elected government with one we approved of in a CIA coo. This is a historic fact. There are pictures from the 50s of girls in short skirts dancing for Christ's sake. For all Saddam's brutality he too was trying to modernize and secularize his country. And he was no worse off than anyone that we put in charge.
Face it, America needs to stop sticking it's nose where it doesn't belong and build a transportation system that doesn't rely on cheap oil.
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You know, the possibilities of a decent, principled political position are entirely undermined by presentation here. Just as a sampling:
"Trash their own country by virtue signalling." Yeah, terrible ain't it? Jesus was big on virtue signaling too, what a jerk!
"My best guess is that being called "nazi" is still a big thing in Europe..." Let's leave aside the quibble that it's Nazi, not "nazi". What is more alarming is that you feel that outside Europe, being called Nazi is no biggie. Why is that, hmmm?
"Non-citizens can apparently vote..." Really? Where? Name one.
"...Merkel and the rest of the EU is so hell-bent on getting more refugees..." followed immediately by "clearly something the member states don't want". These thoughts don't go together. You could have reconciled those statement but you chose not to. Try harder.
"Trump's approval rating actually went *up* during the recent protests." Yes, because that's the only way to evaluate a leader. All things that cause the base to cheer are good, and vice versa! The Romans knew this as they were throwing Christians to the lions. That's why the Roman Empire persists to this day.
English, is the native language of America.
Nobody can say otherwise with a straight face.
Someone already did, and provided evidence, so you promptly stuck your fingers in your ears and replied with "LALALALALALA-I can't hear you!"
Thanks for playing, though.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
By the time they are in your nation its too late.
Lawyers and political activists will be supporting their fake claims that they are all refugees.
Police forces need to follow the funding and the support that allow illegal migrants to pass entire nations security services.
Who is allowing illegal migrants to pass any number of safe nations to get to your nation?
Are hostile nations using a constant flow of supported illegal migrants as a way to weaken your nation?
Who is ensuring illegal migrants do not register in the many other safe nations but keep moving to finally register in your nation?
Someone is providing a way around police registration in the first safe nation they are guidedl past.
Who is not enforcing the immigration laws and protecting your nations borders?
A person who wonders in should be registered on arrival and then have their refugee claim considered in the first safe nation they walk into.
Put some CCTV in all your airports, train stations, ports and along roads. Scan every new face wondering up a road from a border.
Match that face to a passport presented and see if the person has valid papers?
A tourist? Doing study? Business trip? Got the correct paperwork? A registered refugee?
Who is supporting people with no passports and no legal papers to wonder around so many nations?
The new funds to move from nation to nation? Who is giving away the real time maps past police and security services?
A solution is to create a new security service to ensure all other mil/gov/security service staff are not supporting illegal migrants.
A random walk in with a request to create fake documents, to buy refugee paperwork, to not register a person, to guide a person past the nations registration?
See how the police, bureaucracy, official reacts to such offers and who is keeping your nation safe.
Open to bribes and cash payments to allow illegal migrants to keep moving? Bring in police who are not corrupt and enforce your nations laws.
Use the smartphone track the hops of the local support networks. Illegal migrants flow past the shift work of some police and some security officials every day?
Use CCTV to work out who the gov is letting all the illegal migrants walk in and not register.
Find out why police and security services are not doing their jobs. Who is working hard to find and deport illegal migrants? Who in the police is getting more cash, is spending, is corrupt. Who in the police, gov is spending well above their wage when working with illegal migrants? Smartphone data is great for finding corrupt police/gov too.
Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
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Europe is really terrible. Europeans support governments that steal money from the public at large and use further violence to keep people some they don't like from traveling freely. It's wrong to stop a group of people because of the actions of a few. And there isn't even a logical argument for keeping these people out- which demonstrates the bigotry in the polices. The people coming in aren't rapists and murders as is frequently suggested by the bigoted individual who fear these people any more so than your general local population. The violent individuals are those who are supporting policies that assist goons with weapons to steal from those who prefer not partake in there preferred form of socialism. Socialism isn't the problem. It's the violence that backs it in most places that is objectionable. And that violence is government. Get rid of the power and socialism is a worthwhile mission. It's just called charity and you don't have to be a religious nutter to support charity. I'm an atheist and I support charity not violent goons with guns voted into or appointed to steal money and redistribute funds at the whims of politicians.
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Hitler was a leftist too.
You must be a recent university graduate, advanced degree no less, from the USA to think that....
Personally I think "speak English" should be a requirement for immigrants. Maybe not on your first try, but after you've been here a while.......
I don't think they should give up their old culture, but if they are coming to America, learning the language is a minimal token to show you actually like your new country.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Nazi, national socialism, is not socialism. The use of the term was a sly part of Hitler's plan to unite the unions with industry under the auspice of the state. Some say it was radical centrism. I don't know how you can clearly equate left and right with nationalism, except for the right maybe being more inclined to favour nationalism.
I have lived in 3 US states that beg to differ, sugar.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
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...because the post WII gains have shifted back to the ruling class.
You cannot imagine how much time and effort I invested to achieve my high score on Wii golf. Now you're informing me it benefited rich people whom I despise. That's just horrid!
To use heavy term "destroyed" I would go back to The Deluge of Poland, 1655-1660, when they sacked nearly entire country and left former local superpower crushed and broken. After that they indeed tried hard for the next 50 years or so, but with less impressive effects. They ceased to be a military power somewhere in 1710s, when they lost badly to Russians.
What is best in life? Hot water, good dentishtry and shoft lavatory paper.
Because one place has always been broken so all the others must be the same thing, even with the obvious signs of external interference? Your argument is pathetically flawed.
Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
nor can you have sharia courts in a first world nation. or genital mutilation
Genital mutilation is not illegal in most countries - including first world countries like the US and the UK. Shit, genital mutilation is extremely common in the US.
As for Sharia courts, if people want to live their lives by that insanity in my country then they're welcome to do so. They just also have to obey my country's laws and are subject to its legal system; where that clashes with their Sharia rulings is where Sharia stops being law.
That would be 1809, when Finland was ceded to Russia. But yeah, Sweden has not been involved in any wars for a long time.
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Keep up the good work
Oh. Some monkey thinks the truth is "flamebait"?
Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
I'm indigenous, and our people would love nothing more that to ship all you Caucasians, Negroids, Arabs and Orientals back to your miserable homelands.