Britain’s privacy watchdog ruled on Friday that the way the British government tags immigrants with GPS trackers is illegal, a rebuke to officials experimenting with immigration surveillance technology in Britain and the United States.
As part of an 18-month pilot project that ended in December, the Home Office forced up to 600 people who arrived in the country without permission to wear ankle tags to continuously track their location. However, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) said today that the pilot breached UK data protection law because it failed to properly assess the privacy infringement of GPS tracking and failed to provide clear information to immigrants about the data being collected. The ruling means the Home Office has 28 days to update its policy on GPS tracking.
Friday’s decision also means the ICO could fine the Home Office up to £17.5 million ($22 million) or 4% of its turnover if it continues to flag people arriving on Britain’s south coast from Europe in small boats (Whichever is higher). In 2023, more than 29,000 people arrived via this often dangerous route. Earlier this week, French rescue services said one person was dead and two people were missing after trying to cross the English Channel that separates England and France.
Critics of GPS tags welcomed the decision. “24/7 GPS monitoring of asylum seekers arriving in the UK is diametrically opposed to data protection and privacy rights,” said Jonah Mendelsohn, a lawyer at Privacy International, a group campaigning against the label digital rights organization. “The UK government’s frenetic, Wild West approach to deploying deeply invasive technologies, through today’s decision, clashes with the rules-based system that we all have recourse to, regardless of our immigration status.” The Interior Department did not respond to WIRED’s request for comment.
John Edwards said: “Acquiring a person’s 24/7 activities is highly intrusive as it could reveal a wealth of information about them, including potentially inferring sensitive things such as their religion, sexual orientation or health status. information,” the UK Information Commissioner said in a statement. “A lack of clarity on how this information will be used can also inadvertently restrict people’s freedom to move and participate in their daily activities.”
The ICO does not require the Home Office to delete immigration GPS data already stored on its systems. Regulators also left open the possibility that there could be a legal electronic way of monitoring immigrants, but only if data protection is in place.
There are at least two cases pending in the UK courts related to GPS tags. Among them, a 25-year-old former asylum seeker from Sudan who was flagged as part of a pilot scheme by the Home Office after arriving in the UK by small boat in May 2022 is challenging the regime’s rights to excessively interfere with his family and private life. Wearing the tag brought back painful memories of being tied up and tortured during a trip to Britain, according to his lawyers at London law firm Duncan Lewis, who added that his tag had been removed.
Another case revolves around car mechanic Mark Nelson, who told Wired that his experience wearing a GPS tag was dehumanizing. “Our firm represents many individuals like Mark who are subject to electronic surveillance,” said Katie Schwarzmann, a human rights attorney at Wilson Law Firm who represents Nelson. “In almost all cases the Home Office has failed to provide evidence that less intrusive methods were considered or to explain why such a draconian regime was necessary for immigration control.”
The UK is not the only country using GPS tracking devices as an alternative to immigration detention centres. Last year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also announced it would begin tracking immigrants using GPS ankle tags and specially designed smartwatches.