2026-11-21 –, Cotton Theatre - Freedom Stage
Privacy International presents on tech-enabled human rights abuses that harm asylum seekers, refugees, and people on the move, how to use the law to challenge these abuses, and how mission creep means that this technology often shows up in our everyday lives.
The rapid proliferation of digital technologies in migration enforcement and border control has fundamentally transformed how State and non-State actors govern, monitor and control migrants. From biometric data collection at borders to artificial intelligence (AI)-powered decision-making systems for asylum claims, technology now permeates every stage of the migration journey.
Governments all over the world have been building arsenals of technology to surveil and monitor migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees at borders and within countries. Governments are also using technology to aid in migration-related decision making and enforcement. By using technology spanning GPS tagging, social media intelligence (SOCMINT), facial recognition technology (FRT), automated decision making, and artificial intelligence (AI); national and supranational immigration authorities have weaponised troves of invasive technologies against people on the move in the name of ‘security’ – but at the cost of these individuals’ dignity and their rights to privacy, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, due process and myriad other human rights.
This has created data-driven systems that collect and process invasive, and potentially inaccurate, information about migrants. These systems can influence, or even determine, life-changing case outcomes, and extend surveillance into daily interactions, impeding migrants’ access to protection, justice, social services, and employment opportunities.
Privacy International has been investigating and exposing the use of data & technology in the migration context, and aims to share this knowledge with organisations and individuals that advocate for the rights of migrants. Over the past several years, we conducted a survey asking practitioners about the various technologies they, or their clients, have encountered. We published the findings of this survey, and prepared a briefing for legal practitioners and advocates on using international human rights law, domestic law, and data-protection law to challenge tech-enabled human rights abuses in migration enforcement and border control.
Freedom Fest is an opportunity to share our findings and discuss the risks to the right to privacy to all individuals, whether they see themselves as a migrant or not; as function creep creates a real possibility that border technology, often developed by private contractors, makes its way into every day life for the wider population.
Sana is an Advocacy Officer at Privacy International, a London-based charity that campaigns against technological exploitation of people by governments and corporations. She leads work on economic and social justice and supports projects on migration, health, and surveillance. Prior to joining PI, Sana led litigation and policy teams at a legal-action criminal justice reform NGO and argued cases of a varied nature before Pakistani courts. She holds an LLM in Legal Practice and an MA in Public Policy.