Smart border

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Smart Border is a buzzword for new border surveillance technologies and is part of a European Commission program .

concept

Databases in police and other services are to be linked in different EU countries . In addition, drones and satellites are to be used to monitor the borders. Travelers from third countries should be able to enter personal information such as passport data and biometric features into the border control system (so-called e-gates) themselves. The storage period is 2 years and should also be used for criminal prosecution , control of refugee flows and the fight against terrorism .

The aim is to have fully automated controls at the EU's external borders and better control over the entry and exit of foreigners. This should make it easier to identify people with an expired visa .

history

In the 2010s, the concept developed more and more into a catchphrase for new surveillance measures at border controls due to the surveillance and threats of international terrorism, smart technologies and the refugee crisis in Europe . EU - Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström presented the end of February 2013. The Smart Border project to the public.

A pilot study was carried out at Frankfurt am Main Airport and the cruise terminal in Rostock-Warnemünde . This project was initially limited to 2015 and later continued until the end of 2016. The first fingerprints were taken from volunteers by the federal police on June 22nd to September 6th, 2015. Interested parties are the Federal Police , the Federal Office for Information Security and the Federal Office of Administration . The costs for the project amount to 3.5 million euros.

In July 2017, the Interior Committee of the EU Parliament approved the biometric control system and nationals of third countries are to be registered with four fingerprints and facial image when entering the EU.

criticism

The former Federal Data Protection Commissioner Peter Schaar criticized Smart Border because fundamental rights are violated and data retention is carried out. The plans are therefore impractical and legally unsustainable. A technical defect could make a difference in people's lives and turn the innocent into criminals. The data could also fall into the wrong hands. For him the project is unrealistic and a waste of money. The authors of a study commissioned by the Böll Foundation with the title Borderline also see the enormous costs as disproportionate to the benefits. According to co-author Ben Hayes, such plans would not, as predicted, drive back illegal immigration via boats across the Mediterranean , but would intensify it, as people would be deterred. This is also the view of a study commissioned by the EU. In the privacy and the privacy would strongly intervened. Schaar sees the projects as promoting a surveillance state that is now not only spreading nationally. According to Schaar, a similar system was to be introduced in the USA a few years ago, which has not yet worked.

Proponents see faster, more economical and more organized handling of foreign travelers.

literature

  • Heather N. Nicol: The Fence and the Bridge. Geopolitics and Identity along the Canada – US Border . 2015 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Smart Borders in FFM: Pilot project for automatic immigration clearance. Retrieved October 30, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Stefan Krempl: Smart Borders: EU bodies agree on biometric border control. In: heise. July 1, 2017, accessed October 30, 2017 .
  3. ↑ a b Stefan Krempl: Smart Borders: Green light for biometric border controls in the EU Parliament. In: heise. July 13, 2017. Retrieved October 30, 2017 .
  4. ^ A b c Kai Biermann: Smart Border: EU plans for border surveillance "violate fundamental rights" . In: The time . March 5, 2013, ISSN  0044-2070 ( zeit.de [accessed October 30, 2017]).
  5. ↑ Andreas Wilkens: Smart Border: The pilot project for “intelligent borders” will be continued. In: Heise Online . February 12, 2016, accessed October 30, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Stefan Krempl: EU project: Federal police tests e-border control with ten fingerprints. In: heise. March 17, 2015, accessed October 30, 2017 .
  7. ^ Gregor Peter Schmitz: EU border controls: parliamentarians rebel against finger checks . In: Spiegel Online . October 22, 2013 ( spiegel.de [accessed October 30, 2017]).
  8. ↑ SITA: Smart borders. August 28, 2015, accessed October 30, 2017 .