News

New EMN study on data management in the asylum procedure

2021 07 05


In response to the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the digitalisation of asylum procedures has accelerated in many countries. As a result, understanding what kind of data is collected and how it is managed has become critical, particularly regarding data protection and accuracy.

For this reason, the newest European migration network (EMN) study examines how data is managed in the different phases of the asylum procedure (making, registering, lodging and examining) across the Member States and Norway. Also, it maps data management approaches in the asylum procedure (i.e. data protection and safeguards), examines challenges faced by Member States, and analyses the impact of any procedural changes to enhance data-sharing among asylum authorities (and others).

The findings indicate that during the asylum procedure data is primarily collected through oral interviews, questionnaires and electronic tools for biometric data. In addition, several Member States started to use social media analysis, analysis of mobile devices and artificial intelligence in the data collection process.

Finally, the EMN study found that most Member States and Norway cross-check data collected during the asylum procedure against European and national databases to save on administrative capacity overall and facilitate access to data.

Links:
EU study (EN)
Summary of EU study (EN)
Informational message (EN)