A/HRC/48/Add.xx 23. One submission called attention to an anonymously-run blacklisting website, Canary Mission that prejudicially identifies students, professors and activists who have publicly advocated for Palestinian rights, primarily targeting people of Arab descent. It reported that information published on Canary Mission has been used by Israeli immigration officials in the context of administration and enforcement of Israeli borders, and the borders of the occupied Palestinian territory, including to deny entry.53 Such practices violate equality and non-discrimination rights, as well as freedom of expression protections and leave those whose rights are violated with limited avenues of redress. 2 Racial Profiling 24. Consultations with migrants, refugees and stateless persons also highlighted the role of digital technologies in racial and ethnic profiling in border enforcement. In November 2020, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination adopted its General Recommendation No. 36 on preventing and combating racial profiling by law enforcement officials. It recognized that migrants, refugees and asylum seekers, people of African descent, indigenous peoples, and national and ethnic minorities, including Roma, are the groups most vulnerable to racial profiling. 54 The Committee also observed that the “the increasing use of new technological tools, including artificial intelligence, in areas such as security, border control and access to social services, has the potential to deepen racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and other forms of exclusion.”55 25. In consultations, participants raised concerns with ethnic profiling of Roma at the borders of Northern Macedonia. A 2017 case of racial profiling of Roma revealed that officials store biometric data of individuals prevented from crossing these borders on a STOP LIST.56 Advocates raised valid concerns that these sorts of lists are disproportionately populated by Roma, who are subject to ethnic profiling and have limited means of redress. 3 Mandatory biometric data collection, digital identification systems, and exclusion from basic services 26. States are increasingly mandating extensive biometric data collection from noncitizens. The collection and use of this data raise concerns of direct and indirect forms of discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, descent and religion. In most cases, refugees, migrants and stateless persons have no control over how their data is shared. According to one submission, India requires mandatory biometric data collection from noncitizens with a primary use of this data being detention and deportation, including of refugees such as Rohingya.57 Another concern raised in the context of India is the use of Aadhaar ID numbers to exclude migrants de facto from vital basic services which rely on automated systems.58 Because refugees without residency permits are prohibited from holding Aadhaar cards, they are discriminated against and excluded from access to basic services and enjoyment of “rights that ensure a dignified refuge in India.” 59 Even refugee children have reportedly been denied primary education based on not having Aadhaar.60 27. For stateless persons in particular, participants in consultations reported that the expansion of digital identification systems is destroying the informal means of survival that these groups have developed in the absence of proper documentation and recognition by the States in which they reside. Stateless persons, who are predominantly racial and ethnic minorities, are systematically excluded from digital identity databases and documentation. Centralized biometric ID systems challenge the internationally recognized framework of nationality and citizenship in multiple ways. Key problems include algorithmic decision- 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 Palestine Legal, Submission. CERD/C/GC/36. Ibid. See http://www.errc.org/uploads/upload_en/file/5209_file1_third-party-intervention-kham-delchevoand-others-v-north-macedonia-5-february-2020.pdf. Anubhav Dutt Tiwari & Jessica Field, Submission. Ibid. Ibid. Ibid. 9