The EU Council has set its course for the planned regulation, according to which an app for the digital transmission of travel data and IDs is to be developed.

The core function of the planned EU Travel App is for the Council, the option for travellers to transmit their data to the responsible authorities before arriving at the border. This will allow border officials to verify travel documents remotely and also to compare them with police and migration databases.

Despite the promised travel facilitation, civil rights activists and data protectionists are urgently warning against the consequences of digitizing travel documents. They see it as an expansion of the biometric surveillance infrastructure at the EU level. The digital travel app initially provides for automated facial recognition for biometric identification, but it is likely to pave the way for comprehensive and automated collection and evaluation of biometric data. This would restrict freedom of travel in the long term.

  • tocano@piefed.socialEnglish
    15·
    9 days ago

    The use is explicitly optional for EU citizens or third-country nationals. The physical travel document must still be carried when crossing the border.
    (bold added)

    They always present it as optional, and then create a whole infrastructure around it that expects and forces you to have it.