Migrants and refugees in the cyberspace environment: privacy concerns in the European approach

Abstract

Migrants and refugees use their smartphones during their migration journey in several ways. They rely on the Internet, and more specifically social media platforms, to maintain a bond with families and friends back in the State of origin, to get information about their planned routes, to keep contacts with smugglers and traffickers and as a tool of integration in the national community of intended destination. Although smartphones are useful instruments for their migration plans, these devices could also become a gateway to digital surveillance. This article aims to focus on the relationship between smartphones and migrants and its legal consequences, especially about privacy and data protection concerns. More specifically, the study would like to individuate how the utilization of digital devices in the context of mass migration phenomena could expose migrants and refugees to several threats coming from the cyberspace dimension. Thus, it is fundamental to verify which kind of legal safeguards the European regulatory framework could provide to protect the right to privacy and data protection of these subjects.