What Can Data Justice Mean for Asylum Governance? The Case of Smartphone Data Extraction in Germany

Abstract

This article takes new digital surveillance policies in European asylum procedures as an occasion to explore possible principles for an ethical use of digital data on asylum seekers. Drawing on three different conceptions of data justice, and considering their respective analytical focus, objectives and principles, it develops an evaluative framework that helps to unpack what just data-driven governance in the field of asylum can mean. Based on the case of Germany, which introduced a policy to extract data from the smartphones of asylum seekers, the article illustrates how each of the three conceptions of data justice practically informs claims that (de)legitimize dataveillance. The article concludes by highlighting the practical relevance and the shortcomings of established principles such as privacy in balancing the interests between asylum seekers and state authorities. It further argues for a consideration of the structural inequalities of data-based visibility in relation to hierarchies of civic stratification.