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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.

24 of 352 comments (clear)

  1. Counterpoint. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Europe is using smartphone data as a tool to help repatriate lost runaways.

    1. Re:Counterpoint. by blindseer · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Europe is using smartphone data as a tool to help repatriate lost runaways.

      Precisely. We want to see families reunited. We know that ripping children from their mothers cannot be tolerated, therefore we should do the best we can to send children back to their mothers. Or at least returned to their motherland and their extended family.

      --
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  2. Refugees, asylum seekers, migrants by 110010001000 · · Score: 4, Informative

    " 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.

    1. Re:Refugees, asylum seekers, migrants by DutchSter · · Score: 3, Insightful

      There is a difference between an asylum seeker and an immigrant and a migrant and an illegal immigrant.

      Yes and no. No sovereign nation is obligated to allow anybody but its own citizens in. When you are any of the above people asking a country to admit you, regardless of the reason, you're standing at the gate, hat in hand, hoping that by their grace they let you in. If they tell you to jump, you ask how high.

      If you don't want to follow their procedures and allow an invasive search of your property, then that's fine, ask another country to take you instead, or go back to your home country.

    2. Re:Refugees, asylum seekers, migrants by ScentCone · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Some genuine refugees lie, for a whole variety of reasons. They are still refugees and the system has to recognise that.

      As opposed to NOT-genuine refugees? What separates the two? If someone who claims to be a refugee and is lying in order to pull off that fraud, that doesn't make them a refugee, it makes them a liar pretending to be one to scam the system. Tools that help to differentiate the scammers from the real thing are essential, since untold thousands of people continually attempt that scam.

      --
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    3. Re:Refugees, asylum seekers, migrants by Maelwryth · · Score: 5, Informative

      "No sovereign nation is obligated to allow anybody but its own citizens in."

      Actually, there are over 140 countries who are obligated by law to allow entry for certain reasons. For example; The states that signed the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and the 1967 Protocol.

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    4. Re:Refugees, asylum seekers, migrants by Obfuscant · · Score: 4, Interesting

      But what about lying about your name or the town you came from

      "I am from Berne, and my name is Mr. Bimler ... this is my friend Mr. Hilter and he most recently lived in Vienna.

      Lying about your name prevents validation of your status in the country you are fleeing, including criminal and political. By lying about your name you are deliberately trying to bypass the legal process of asylum, and should be deported. If you are going to lie to get into the country, what other laws are you going to break once you are here?

      Remember that refugees are fleeing something, and they don't know the system

      Are you seriously trying to claim that they don't know they are lying ("don't know the system")? Or that they don't trust the place they are trying to gain entry to? Then why would they flee to that country if they don't trust that country? That's leaping from the frying pan into the fire, isn't it?

      Go somewhere that lying is acceptable and that you trust. Bye.

      A zero tolerance policy is unfair.

      It is quite fair to the people who already live here, and to those who obey the laws to try to gain entry. It is certainly fair to those who are refused asylum for cause when they tell the truth.

    5. Re:Refugees, asylum seekers, migrants by Maxwell'sSilverLART · · Score: 3, Informative

      To conflate it all is disingenuous.

      I don't see anything being conflated at all.

      Under U.S. law, anyway, "asylee" is not synonymous with "refugee;" it's a subset of refugee, with different legal procedures and consequences. See https://www.uscis.gov/humanita... , http://www.alllaw.com/articles... , https://www.dhs.gov/immigratio... , https://www.law.cornell.edu/us... , and--if you want the statute-- https://www.law.cornell.edu/us... .

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  3. Somewhat misleading headline by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

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  4. Re:some? by cayenne8 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    Hmm....sounds like one of the first legitimate uses of such tech in the US, like stingray.....

    Rather than use it on law abiding citizens,let's use it to more readily track the illegal immigrants in the US (border hoppers and VISA overstays) and use this to more readily track them down.

    This would go a long way of circumventing the sanctuary cities that don't obey the laws and cooperate.

    I don't have a problem with people coming and migrating to the US to integrate and become US citizens, but if you are coming to the country, at least sign the fucking GUEST BOOK on the way in, and do things legally.

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    Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
  5. Re:Part of the Plan for a Police State by iggymanz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    No, big difference between finding and removing immigration criminals and citizens.

    Countries have borders and immigration laws. There is no problem using whatever means to locate immigration criminals.

  6. About that... by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:About that... by EndlessNameless · · Score: 5, Informative

      Found the political bullshitter with an agenda!

      Non-citizens can apparently vote

      Not really. They cannot vote in federal elections at all per 18 USC 611. (I'd link it at uscode.house.gov, but Slashdot apparently doesn't like the URL. I trust you can find it.)

      Since you mentioned CA in particular, I'll note that they can't vote there at all. Only US citizens can vote in CA, according the California Secretary of State.

      As far as I know, every state requires US citizenship in order to vote. Certainly everywhere I've lived.

      It's OK if you're afraid of immigrants, but it's not OK to lie about how things work in the real world.

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    2. Re:About that... by king+neckbeard · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why shouldn't people in prison be able to vote? They are citizens, and they likely have grievances with the way our government currently functions.

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    3. Re:About that... by Obfuscant · · Score: 5, Insightful

      As far as I know, every state requires US citizenship in order to vote.

      But can do nothing to verify that the person casting that ballot is a US citizen. Trying to require something as simple as ID is labelled as "racism" and results in lawsuits.

      Imagine a law that says only people older than 20 can drink alcohol, and then not allowing the bars to check IDs to make sure all the people they serve are at least 21. Would you still argue that there is any law against 18 year olds drinking? Any USEFUL law?

      It's OK if you're afraid of immigrants,

      Nothing here shows any fear of immigrants. It shows a disdain for criminals, however. Not every immigrant is a criminal.

      but it's not OK to lie about how things work in the real world.

      Nor it is OK to ignore that prohibiting the enforcement of laws effectively eliminates those laws.

    4. Re:About that... by king+neckbeard · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Prison is a punishment. In an ideal world, it would be a punishment for anti-social behavior, but prison is often used as a political tool. For example. a lot of people in prison are there on non-violent drug charges, and a good chunk of those in there for violent charges because the prior drug charges hurt their employment opportunities. These people were unjustly put in the cage by the state, so they certainly need the ability to vote.

      As for your concern about criminals buying pardons, it just doesn't work out unless there is a ridiculous, yet legitimate prison population. El Salvador has the highest homicide rate, at 83 per 100k. If we multiply that over 10 years, that's still only 0.83%, even in the murder capital of the world, easily within the margin of error. If there are enough violent criminals that they constitute a major voting block, your country has far bigger problems.

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    5. Re:About that... by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Disenfranchisement of felons is a downhill slope. You punish people unfairly, then take away the only right they might use to help change the system so it doesn't happen to others. We tell prospective citizens that the right to vote is the most important right they have (in fact it is the "correct" answer to a question on the citizenship test) and then we go on to deprive even people who were born here of that right.

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    6. Re:About that... by drinkypoo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      "Trying to require something as simple as ID is labelled as "racism" and results in lawsuits."

      Only where states create onerous requirements for getting ID. Frankly, no one should pay a fee for something that is for the convenience of the government. It should come out of the general fund and be paid for by taxes. No one should need to pay money to exercise their rights.

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    7. Re:About that... by magzteel · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Trying to require something as simple as ID is labelled as "racism" and results in lawsuits."

      Only where states create onerous requirements for getting ID. Frankly, no one should pay a fee for something that is for the convenience of the government. It should come out of the general fund and be paid for by taxes. No one should need to pay money to exercise their rights.

      ID requirements are challenged no matter what the government does. Bringing ID vans to neighborhoods and making it free makes no difference. It will be challenged by testifying that there is at least one person who just can't possibly manage to do it no matter how easy it is. I bet they would manage to make it if you were giving away free cell phones. They would manage if you needed an ID to claim your free cell phone.

      I think it's crazy that some groups would rather spend their resources fighting a voter ID requirement than helping people who don't have an ID get one. In my opinion the only reason to do this is they know the ID requirement will reduce voter fraud.

    8. Re:About that... by king+neckbeard · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Drugs generally aren't worth punishment, and that's what kind of non-violent offender fills our prisons. As for the violence, I'm talking about the first time they were put in a cage being unjust. The later violence is often hard to avoid, due to the fact that our prisons don't rehabilitate, and the first offense will lead to difficulty finding employment, which leads to more drugs and often, to violent crime. Judging those people doesn't really work with standard moral views, because they are caught up by forces much larger than them. The real problem is systemic, and as people who understand first-hand how the system is broken, they deserve to have their input heard on fixing it.

      Universal suffrage should be considered the norm, and the necessity for excluding a group from said suffrage needs a strong rationale. So long as the majority of the population thinks crime is bad, and a minority of the population is in prison, we don't really risk actual criminals getting extreme leniency. What we do see is amnesty for bullshit crimes, which Obama did quite a bit of, and states are starting to do as well. Blindseer is obsessing over a completely contrived hypothetical.

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  7. Re:Part of the Plan for a Police State by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Merkel is the one who oversaw in introduction of really strong privacy laws and tried to find a workable, humane solution to the migrant crisis.

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  8. Re:Part of the Plan for a Police State by iggymanz · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes there are rights for when they are hunted, captured, detained and deported. All that is legal under the law. That has never changed.

    There are laws for refugees. There are laws for immigration.

    You do not advocate the rule of law. That is wrong.

  9. A soldier in the UK working immigration said... by VAXcat · · Score: 3, Interesting

    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.
  10. Re:some? by sexconker · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The federal government is the one who decides who can and cannot enter the country, and the Executive branch is tasked with securing the border and enforcing immigration laws.

    States may not have to specifically aid the feds for certain things, but they cannot actively interfere with their operations. Doing so makes them active participants in crime. And yes, entering the country illegally is a crime. As is aiding and abetting such criminals.