What Can Data Justice Mean for Asylum Governance? The Case of Smartphone Data Extraction in Germany


Loading...

Author / Producer

Date

2023-09

Publication Type

Journal Article

ETH Bibliography

yes

Citations

Altmetric

Data

Abstract

This article takes new digital surveillance policies in European asylum procedures as an occasion to explore possible principles for an ethical use of digital data on asylum seekers. Drawing on three different conceptions of data justice, and considering their respective analytical focus, objectives and principles, it develops an evaluative framework that helps to unpack what just data-driven governance in the field of asylum can mean. Based on the case of Germany, which introduced a policy to extract data from the smartphones of asylum seekers, the article illustrates how each of the three conceptions of data justice practically informs claims that (de)legitimize dataveillance. The article concludes by highlighting the practical relevance and the shortcomings of established principles such as privacy in balancing the interests between asylum seekers and state authorities. It further argues for a consideration of the structural inequalities of data-based visibility in relation to hierarchies of civic stratification.

Publication status

published

Editor

Book title

Volume

36 (3)

Pages / Article No.

534 - 551

Publisher

Oxford University Press

Event

Edition / version

Methods

Software

Geographic location

Date collected

Date created

Subject

asylum; data justice; dataveillance; policy; smartphones

Organisational unit

Notes

Funding

Related publications and datasets