In New Joint Investigation, Inkstick Reveals Risks of Europe’s AI-Powered Border Enforcement
We teamed up with Solomon in Greece, El País in Spain, WoZ in Switzerland, and Tagesspiegel in Germany.
Hello, everyone.
It’s 2025, and by now we have all more or less come to grips with the fact that we are living under some degree of surveillance most moments of each day. Whenever we go to any public place, it’s likely that we will cross through the sights of several security cameras while we’re en route. Whether it’s airports, bus stations, department stores, cafes, or restaurants (or even in our phones) — wherever we are, we are likely being watched.
But what does this reality mean for the ever-growing number of people who are displaced by war, political repression, or economic collapse and have to cross borders in search of safety?
That question is exactly why Inkstick joined forces with several European publications — Solomon in Greece, El País in Spain, WoZ in Switzerland, and Tagesspiegel in Germany — in a new joint investigation that takes a hard look at the many, many ways that Artificial Intelligence-powered surveillance could be violating the rights of refugees and migrants risking an already dangerous journey.
The investigation was the year-long work of six reporters — Katy Fallon, Giorgos Christides, Deana Mrkaja, Florian Schmitz, Marguerite Meyer, and Hibai Arbide Aza — and spans the borders of several European countries. It was possible thanks to the financial assistance of the Investigative Journalism for Europe Fund, Journalism Fund Europe, and Netzwerk Recherche.
And, as you might have guessed, the findings are significant. In Calais, the coastal town in northern France, refugees and migrants hoping to make the dangerous English Channel crossing said they believed that surveillance drones had spotted them and alerted authorities before they could set off.
In Greece, police reports that the investigative journalists unearthed reveal the workings of an automated surveillance system that alerts both Greek and Turkish authorities whenever refugees and migrants try to cross the land border between the two countries.
In Germany, authorities have turned to AI for both phone data extraction and reviews of asylum applications. One professor who spoke to the reporters even described phone extraction as “the most invasive” method German authorities have employed at the expense of asylum seekers’ privacy.
And to what effect? Take it from the officials and experts:
The long arms of technology, however, seem to do little to dissuade people from pursuing their journey through Europe. Officials as well as NGO workers who spoke to the investigation all cast doubt on the current power of AI to do much in the near future to prevent arrivals.
Now, if you’re one of our readers in the United States, you might ask: So what? Worrisome stuff, sure, but that’s halfway across the world. Not so fast. As the investigation reveals, some of the United Kingdom’s AI-fueled maritime surveillance towers are, in fact, being provided by a prominent American tech figure and vocal supporter of President-elect Donald Trump.
So, that’s why I’m writing today: to ask you, our readers, to take a few minutes to read this investigative dispatch and, if you learn anything, share it far and wide. We are a small, nonprofit newsroom, and we depend on folks like yourself to help us get the word out.
Read the entire dispatch at Inkstick’s website. Share it on BlueSky, LinkedIn, Facebook, or any other social media outlet you frequent. And if you haven’t already, please consider supporting the work Inkstick does by upgrading to a paid Substack subscription to help us build up our newsroom.
With Warmth,
Patrick Strickland
Inkstick Media, managing editor
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