The way the UK government has been tagging migrants with GPS trackers is illegal, the country’s privacy regulator ruled on Friday, in a rebuke to officials who have been experimenting with migrant-surveillance tech in both the UK and the US.
As part of an 18-month pilot that concluded in December, the UK interior ministry, known as the Home Office, forced up to 600 people who arrived in the country without permission to wear ankle tags that continuously tracked their locations. However, that pilot broke UK data protection law because it did not properly assess the privacy intrusion of GPS tracking or give migrants clear information about the data that was being collected, the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said today. The ruling means the Home Office has 28 days to update its policies around GPS tracking.
Friday’s decision also means the ICO could fine the Home Office up to £17.5 million ($22 million) or 4 percent of its turnover—whichever is higher—if it resumes tagging people who arrive on the UK south coast in small boats from Europe. In 2023, over 29,000 people arrived using this often perilous route. Earlier this week, French rescue services said one person had died and two were missing after attempting to cross the English Channel, the stretch of water that separates England and France.
Opinions against the GPS tags expressed their approval of the resolution. “The UK’s application of GPS surveillance on asylum seekers 24/7 goes directly against data privacy and protection rights,” states Jonah Mendelsohn, a lawyer with Privacy International, a group for digital rights that have opposed the tag. “The approach of the UK government, which is extremely aggressive and imitating the Wild West, in using this invasive technology, has clashed today with a system that everyone can resort to irrespective of immigration status.” The Home Office has not provided a response to WIRED’s request for comment.
“The ability to monitor someone’s movements around the clock is exceedingly intrusive because it is likely to disclose a lot of private information about that person such as their religion, sexual orientation, or health status,” John Edwards, the UK information commissioner stated. “The vagueness in the use of this information could have unintended consequences such as restricting people’s freedom and movements for normal daily activities.”
It was not mandated by the ICO that the Home Office must erase the already stored GPS data of migrants in its systems. The regulator also did not dismiss the opportunity of legally monitoring migrants electronically, but only with data safety measures.
At least two court cases in the UK involving GPS tags are waiting for judgement. One involves a 25-year-old former asylum seeker from Sudan who was tagged by the Home Office as a part of the pilot scheme after entering the UK on a small boat in May 2022, and is contesting the scheme due to its excessive interference with his rights to family and private life. According to his attorneys at Duncan Lewis, a legal firm in London, he had a painful recall of being bound and tortured on his journey to the UK due to the tag, which has since been taken off.
Another case revolves around car mechanic Mark Nelson, who told WIRED that his experience wearing a GPS tag had been dehumanizing. “Our firm represents numerous individuals like Mark who are being electronically monitored,” says Katie Schwarzmann, a human rights lawyer at Wilsons Solicitors, who is representing Nelson. “In virtually all cases the Home Office has failed to provide evidence they have considered less-intrusive methods or explain why this draconian regime is necessary for immigration control.”
The UK is not the only country that is using GPS tracking devices as an alternative to immigration detention centers. Last year, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency also announced it would start tracking migrants using GPS ankle tags and specially designed smartwatches.
Byron Tau
Aarian Marshall
Simon Hill
Lauren Goode
