The European Union's external borders are a sensitive area where human rights violations often occur. The recent intensification of the surveillance apparatus of the EU's external border control agency, Frontex, raises particular concerns regarding the privacy rights of third-country migrants. Internal documents from the European Data Protection Supervisor show that the EU privacy watchdog, is not satisfied with how the agency handles this personal data.
Frontex, processes special personal data of arriving migrants without a valid legal basis. So reports news organization EUROACTIV, based on a letter sent by the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) to Frontex in August (1). The letter follows two previous EDPS opinions on Frontex's internal rules for processing personal data. In it, the supervisor spoke critically about the compatibility of these rules with Frontex's mandate and European privacy legislation.
In the letter, Supervisor Wojciech Wiewórowski, explains that the organization's new rules only partially reflect the supervisor's opinions. In particular, Wiewórowski complains about the vague scope of the rules regarding the types of personal data Frontex is allowed to process and for what purposes.
An EDPS investigation earlier this year found that Frontex's practices regarding personal data are not fully compliant with the law (2). In that investigation, the EDPS expressed concern about the frequent exchange of data between Frontex and European law enforcement authorities such as Europol and Eurojust. This was done without prior assessment and clear objectives. The EDPS indicated that Frontex has no enforcement powers and therefore should not collect personal data for the purpose of obtaining information on suspects of international criminal acts. This is namely the competence of Europol, Eurojust and other national enforcement authorities.
Asked about the next steps by EURACTIV, Frontex expressed its willingness to continue the dialogue with the EDPS in order to comply with European legislation. On the other hand, the EDPS has no plans to bring the agency directly before the European Court of Justice, provided Frontex makes sufficient adjustments to its internal procedures regarding data processing.
(1) https://www.euractiv.com/section/data-privacy/news/frontex-is-illegally-processing-migrants-data-eu-watchdog-says/;
(2) https://edps.europa.eu/system/files/2023-05/edps_-_23-05-24_audit_report_frontex_executive_summary_en.pdf.
