Frontex as a hub for surveillance and data sharing: Challenges for data protection and privacy rights

Abstract

The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, more commonly known as Frontex, was established in 2004 with “a view to improving the integrated management of the external borders of the Member States of the European Union.” It was tasked with the responsibility of providing technical support and expertise to Member States in the management of borders. Over the years its mandate has increased considerably through amendments to its legislative framework. This expansion has taken place against a background of serious allegations concerning Frontex's role in violating the fundamental rights of asylum seekers through its involvement in pushback operations – the practice of stopping asylum-seekers and migrants in need of protection at or before they reach the European Union's external border. While Frontex's complicity in pushbacks has been widely examined by academics, its transformation into a major surveillance and data processing hub and its compliance (or lack thereof) with the fundamental rights to privacy and protection of personal data have received limited academic attention.This paper traces the evolution of Frontex over the years and fundamental rights implications of the transformation of its role.