Foreign Keys: Travel Surveillance

This week we're discussing borders, biometrics and more, as we take a look at what kind of surveillance you might experience if you're traveling to the World Cup, or to the EU schengen area.

Acronyms

- ETIAS: European Travel Information and Authorisation System (new for visa exempt; no biometrics - run by a central unit operated by frontex; this is where manual checks carried out if automated checks flag problems)

- VIS: Visa information System (obvs for visas; age lowered to 6? - will soon check other systems)

- EES: Entry/Exit system (biometrics on entry; records all border crossings)

- CIR: Common Identity Repository (only non-eu citizens; weak anti-discrimination; identity info from visa and ta - data from other databases lives here and is used for purposes beyond travel e.g. police checks in country)

- Eurodac: (all asylum seekers, and trying to add undocumented migrants)

- ECRIS-TCN: European Criminal Records Information System for Third-Country Nationals (data on non-EU citizens convicted in one or more EU member state)

- SIS: schengen information system (an EU database for police, judicial and border control/cooperation, to see whether they are wanted by the police or subject to an entry ban; checked on crossing external schengen border inc eu citizens)

- MID: Multiple-Identity Detector

- SLTED: Interpol’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database (checked on crossing external schengen border inc eu citizens)

Links

World Cup: https://privacyinternational.org/long-read/5759/moving-goalposts-football-facial-recognition-and-expansion-surveillance

USA

• Trump Administration: https://privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/5713/trump-administration-wants-your-dna-and-social-media

• Airport Phone searches: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/31/travel/airport-border-phone-search.html

• Customs and Border Protection phone searches: https://www.cbp.gov/travel/cbp-search-authority/border-search-electronic-devices

• Snooperbowl 2000/2001 NFL season
  https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/firm-defends-snooper-bowl-technology

• Omar Artan, the Somali Referee not allowed in to the US: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/articles/cnv9drg0qzgo

• Some more info on the Iranian team's travel restrictions https://www.reuters.com/sports/soccer/iran-thank-tijuana-after-world-cup-exit-support-mexico-second-team-2026-06-30/

The EU's database complex - the EES and ETIAS

• PI on EU travel surveillance from 2020 https://privacyinternational.org/explainer/4119/travel-surveillance-eu

• Statewatch on the ETIAS https://statewatch.org/news/2026/april/europe-s-uncertain-plans-for-rolling-out-the-automated-border-system-etias/;

• Statewatch's full report: https://statewatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/sw-automated-suspicion-full.pdf

• Statewatch on expanding EU stravel surveillance: https://statewatch.org/news/2026/january/eu-member-states-want-to-expand-police-surveillance-of-travel/

• Court cases against Passenger Name Record directive: https://freiheitsrechte.org/en/themen/freiheit-im-digitalen-zeitalter/nopnr-en

UN Counter Terror

• PI's Travellers' Surveillance report from 2024 https://privacyinternational.org/sites/default/files/2024-12/PI Travellers surveillance report dec 2024_0.pdf

• PI's briefing: https://privacyinternational.org/report/5481/pis-briefing-travellers-surveillance

UK

• Border Search of digital devices https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2023-12-05/debates/D4EA367E-312B-4FA4-A441-0C4E7967C5D6/DigitalDevicesSearchPowersAtTheUKBorder

• UK's law on seizure of electronic devices from asylum seekers and migrants https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/powers-and-operational-procedure-caseworker-guidance/border-security-asylum-and-immigration-act-2025-seizure-of-electronic-devices-policy-guidance-accessible

• Tommy Robinson Court Case https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/tommy-robinson-cleared-terror-charges-over-refused-phone-access-1752352

• Muhammad Rabbani - Director of Cage - Schedule 7 terror charges: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-41394156