Algorithms, artificial intelligence and machine learning have permeated our daily lives, delivering new conveniences, and new threats to our privacy.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in the treatment of the personal data of migrants. The data once collected on forms and filed away is now immediately digitised — just last month the US put a stop to paper forms for noncitizen visitors travelling under its popular visa waiver program.
The alternative ESTA form, online and fairly inexpensive, has become longer and longer as more questions have been added to it over the years. Each additional question is designed to reveal more about the personal behaviour of the individual, such as the destinations of previous travel or immigration records elsewhere. And it's a trend repeated in more and more countries, including in the European Union as it establishes its own travel authorisation system.
