With “artificial intelligence” against immigration

The European Union uses various tools to prevent or at least control unwanted immigration. The focus is on the Frontex border agency, which monitors the outer borders with satellites, aircraft and drones. Frontex also conducts regular reconnaissance of the “border area” off the European coast. with 30 African countries The agency created its own network for this purpose, which also processes Secret Service information.

Now the EU Commission wants to go one step further. With the help of data from various sources, the so-called EUMigraTool aims to predict and control “migration flows” in Europe. Modeling and forecasting should be done using ‘deep learning’. According to official information, the first phase of the EUMigraTool tool is not aimed at deporting refugees, but rather at supporting their admission, resettlement and resettlement. However, several civil society organizations and individuals issued an open letter calling for the project to be halted.

So far only forecasts for individual countries

EUMigraTool program funded by the European Union is part of the ITFLOWS project, which brings together many universities, institutes and NGOs have merged. Committee promotes EUMigraTool About 4.9 million eurosThe University of Barcelona is responsible for the project. The first results should be available by August 31, 2023.

The project primarily wants to develop a solution that enables “reliable immigrant forecasting” across Europe. So far, these methods have been country specific only, for example in the United Kingdom and Sweden. There, different data sources and time frames will be used for forecasting.

Some early warning models can also predict “countries with the potential to trigger refugee flows.” For example, databases of political events such as those used by the Bundeswehr and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany can be used for this. In a similar project, the European Union Commission funded research examining how open source intelligence (OSINT) works. Can be used for marine surveillance.

According to ITFLOWS, these models do not take into account escapes caused by environmental causes such as natural disasters or weather changes. Therefore, the project now planned wants to combine existing tools and data platforms in the field of migration and asylum in Europe. Algorithms should also evaluate non-personally identifiable information from social media.

Data integration of Communication Technology

in Study published in February The European Commission’s research center investigated how migrants use Twitter, Flickr or Instagram. In addition to personal data, they also analyzed people’s moods. Platforms like Linkedin, where users reveal their origin and current whereabouts, also allow for conclusions to be drawn.

Phone service providers can also determine if a significant number of cell phones log into the wireless network in another area in a certain period of time, for example. Even if this archived data is anonymous, it contains useful information about migratory movements.

The ITFLOWS website does not indicate which of this data the EUMigraTool software will use. However, in addition to the vague wording, “evidence-based ICT” was mentioned. “Informative content of TV news”.

With the required solution, the EU initially wants to facilitate the integration of migrants. This may be the redistribution of refugees, such as the European Union You want to implement in a static “transfer mechanism”.. ITFLOWS then plans to use the tool “to identify potential risks of tension between migrants and EU citizens”. Finally, the project wants to make recommendations to politicians, governments, and union institutions.

Organizations criticize the security of immigration

A coalition of 11 NGOs, including Access Now, Bits of Freedom, European Digital Rights and Statewatch, strongly criticized EUMigra last week. in one open letter Organizations, together with individuals, are demanding to refrain from any technology that could hinder fleeing people. Predictive technologies offer the potential to visualize and criminalize migrants primarily as a security problem.

Another accusation is that ITFLOWS creates an infrastructure for predictive migration technologies. EUMigraTool dispenses with the security precautions that prevent EU authorities and agencies from using the forecasting tool for border management and security purposes.

Predictive analytics tools are also currently the subject of negotiations between institutions in the framework of EU law on the use of “artificial intelligence”proposed by the European Union Commission. Accordingly, requests for border control and surveillance are currently not permitted. The signatories to the open letter therefore call on the ITFlows project to “refrain from developing a system that will be blocked by the upcoming regulation.”