The panel brought together a distinguished group of experts to discuss Protecting the Digital Rights of Asylum Seekers and Refugees.
The panel featured Dr Francesca Palmiotto, Assistant Professor of Law at IE University in Madrid and AFAR Research Fellow, Dr Derya Ozkul, Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Warwick and AFAR Principal Investigator, Eleftherios Chelioudakis, Co-founder and Executive Director of Homo Digitalis, and Joanna Parkin, Legal Officer in the Supervision and Enforcement Unit at the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS).
Dr Palmiotto introduced the AFAR project, which looks at how new technologies are used to manage migration and asylum, and what this means for fairness, whether people are treated fairly as individuals, across groups, and in how fairness is perceived. She shared findings from her paper “When Is a Decision Automated?”, which challenges how the law defines automated decision-making. Instead of clear-cut categories, her research shows that in practice, systems are often used in more complex ways, like sorting applications, generating evidence, or flagging people for extra checks. The AFAR research fellow also highlighted the Tech Litigation Database, a free online tool that collects court and data protection authority decisions from around the world on the use of automated systems.
On her part, Dr Derya Ozkul discussed the role of strategic litigation in challenging automated systems used in migration and asylum governance. Drawing on research conducted with Dr Palmiotto, she showed that most cases are led by civil society organisations, rather than directly by migrants, due to major barriers such as lack of transparency, limited technical knowledge, and insufficient evidence.
Despite these challenges, NGOs are increasingly using strategic litigation as a tool to demand accountability. They gather evidence through data access requests, FOI laws, and expert collaborations, and when court action isn’t feasible, they turn to data protection authorities. Strategic litigation, Dr Ozkul argued, is slow and resource-intensive but remains one of the few effective tools to contest opaque and harmful technologies.
Eleftherios Chelioudakis was then well-situated to highlight the importance of strategic Litigation in practice. Founded in 2018 in Athens, Homo Digitalis is Greece’s leading civil society organisation defending human rights in the digital age. Initially volunteer-run, it gained recognition through impactful advocacy, policy reforms, and strategic legal actions. Notably, their complaint led to Greece’s largest data protection fine against CLEARVIEW AI, demonstrating their effective use of strategic litigation.
Homo Digitalis has been deeply involved in exposing and challenging invasive surveillance systems at Greece’s border detention centres, specifically the Kentavros and Hyperion projects. Funded by the EU and involving advanced CCTV, drones, AI analytics, and biometric ID gates, these systems raise serious human rights concerns. Despite official secrecy and resistance, Homo Digitalis helped build a coalition that prompted a data protection authority investigation, revealing non-compliance with GDPR and sparking ongoing legal and public scrutiny. Their work exemplifies the power of strategic litigation combined with coalition-building and public awareness to hold governments accountable in the digital era.
Joanna Parkin from the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) then highlighted the EU’s role in protecting digital rights. The EDPS oversees data protection in agencies like Frontex and large-scale systems such as Schengen. Protecting people on the move is a strategic priority due to the high risks involved.
Parkin emphasised the EDPS’s focus on fairness in data collection, especially in Frontex operations, and the complex challenges of automated processing and biometric checks across EU systems. She also noted concerns around algorithmic risk profiling, which the EDPS advises on to prevent discrimination and ensure legal safeguards. This shows how data protection authorities are adapting to AI-driven migration management.
You can see the full discussion here.