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In France, the authorities can not monitor the mobile data of migrants for administrative procedures such as asylum applications, except in the fight against terrorism. (photo illustration) ANGELOS TZORTZINIS / AFP

Mobile phones are true lifelines for migrants. Documentation tools, navigation systems, but also and especially means of communication, they allow them to establish a regular contact with their relatives, smugglers, and any other person likely to help them in their journey. But precisely because they allow them to stay connected, mobile phones also expose migrants to real risks. Among them, the exploitation of their mobile data by the authorities of certain European countries, which can make it possible to trace their course or verify their identity.

When they are forced to leave their home country, thousands of migrants leave behind their homes with only a few tickets, and a mobile phone. Just enough to allow them to reach Europe. Being connected is an essential point in a situation of forced migration, to keep in touch with those close to you, but also to be able to reach help.

For issues of mobility, location and security, phones are therefore essential tools for migrants, but not only. According to Wired UK , the British version of the US monthly Wired , some European governments use mobile phones of migrants and extract mobile data geolocation and messaging.

Companies specialized in data extraction

" It would not surprise me ," says Carleen Maitland, associate professor at Pennstate University of Information Science and Technology. Twenty years ago, if someone applied for asylum, immigration officials would ask for evidence to verify the claimants' claims. This is extremely disturbing, and disappointing for people who have already lost everything to lose, in addition, their digital memories .

An act made possible by the upsurge of companies specialized in this field, as for example in the United Kingdom. There, several companies even have contracts with the British police force, as revealed by a report by Privacy International , a non-governmental organization based in London, activist for the right to privacy.

According to one of these companies, MSAB , 97% of British police forces would use XRY software, even giving access to data deleted from mobile devices, whether they are smartphones, 3G modems, GPS or even of tablets.

Lack of transparency

Today, Privacy International does not have the proof that the police forces resort to this type of practice towards migrants, despite the revelations of The Guardian newspaper in 2016 , ruling that the Home Office, the Ministry of Justice British interior, could indeed have access to mobile data from the phones of migrants suspected of committing a crime. But which criteria? The problem for Privacy International: a lack of transparency on this issue, regulated by a law, according to them, obsolete - the law on police and criminal evidence , dating from 1984. It gives the police the power to require " any information stored in any electronic form ".

" We are concerned that migrant mobile data will be pulled from their cell phones when they are held in detention centers, or when they move from one center to another (in the UK), without anyone knowing it. really, " worries Millie Graham Wood, a lawyer at Privacy International. " The law they claim to rely on is inadequate and inapplicable to new technologies, " she adds.

An important volume of information

A concern all the more legitimate when we know what information can access the British police when they use technology Cellebrite: the numbers of each of the contacts saved in the phone, the call log, text messages and images sent, all videos and images as well as their date and time of creation (sometimes even accompanied by their geolocation), audio files, e-mails, navigation information, GPS data, messages and contacts social networking applications, all the bluetooth networks to which the phone has been connected, unlock codes (whether digits or diagrams), and even deleted data.

" They have no idea how much information can be taken from them, and how it could be used against them in the future, " explains Millie Graham Wood. Especially since the information found in the phone is not necessarily accurate and 100% reliable. " With this lack of transparency around the issue of where migrant data comes from and how it is used, there is a risk of miscarriage of justice, which could lead to evictions because of what was found on the phones. and that might be incorrect. "

But the UK is not the only country in Europe where mobile data can turn against migrants. In Germany, the law is clearer: since May 18, 2017 , the authorities can examine the metadata of potential migrants and determine in which countries they were, and when - check, therefore, their testimony at their request for asylum in case of doubt.

According to Wired , the German authorities use computer software called Atos, which uses the technologies of two companies specialized in the forensic analysis of telephones, T3K ... and MSAB. A combination of tools that allows access to metadata contained in mobile phones.

Different policies in Europe

In Germany, the law on telephone surveillance can only apply if the identity or nationality of an asylum seeker can not be proven, and is based on section 15a of the Asylum Act, according to Annegret Korff, spokesperson for the German Migration Office (BAMF) , interviewed by confreres of the website Infomigrants . Only the BAMF can then process this data.

In 2017, Belgium was also inspired by its German neighbor; in November, the Chamber adopted the reform of the right of asylum of the secretary of state Theo Francken . A text that gives the authorities the opportunity to inspect the cell phones of asylum seekers, but also to peel their profiles on social networks to verify the story of the candidate on his journey. The goal is also to control their identity if they do not have documents that can prove it. In case of refusal to make accessible his mobile phone and his social networks, the asylum seeker can be locked up.

Same thing in Turkey. There too, the authorities are looking at the profiles of migrants as soon as they cross the border with Syria. That's what Marie Gillespie, professor of sociology at the Open University in the United Kingdom, and Souad Osseiran, an anthropologist specializing in migration and refugee issues in Turkey, and Margie Cheesman say. , from Oxford University in the United Kingdom. They interviewed Saleem, who testified: " When I arrived at the border in Turkey, the guard took my phone and asked for my Facebook password. At first, I did not want to give it to him because I was scared, but they put me in prison for 15 days, and hit me. They took my phone, and I was stuck. "

In the article, we also learn that online surveillance can continue once the European borders are past, since the authorities ask asylum seekers for information about their Facebook account, encouraging them to " clean up " their profiles.

France adopts a position different from its neighbors: the authorities can not monitor the mobile data of migrants for administrative procedures such as asylum applications, except in the fight against terrorism - where no matter which suspected person can be tapped.

But then why such differences of practice between European countries? Interviewed by Infomigrants in March 2018, the European Commission's Migration and Home Affairs Office replied that European law does not regulate this issue. Each member state is therefore able to decide whether or not asylum seekers must hand over their mobile phones to the authorities, and whether they call on companies such as MSAB. The firm also summarizes its possibilities for data exploitation: " if you have access to a SIM card, you have access to a person's entire life ".