As congressional Democrats counter President Donald Trump’s border wall plan with a high-tech solution, the idea of a “smart” security barrier is raising fresh questions over the potential for intrusive surveillance.
Last month, the Democratic lawmakers endorsed what they described as “a strong, but smart, border security posture,” without “costly physical barriers.”
Some test projects are already underway along the US-Mexico border on “small wall” systems that use artificial intelligence and other electronics in place of steel or masonry barriers.
Advantages of a tech-based solution include a far lower cost, faster implementation and fewer environmental impacts.
But some activists worry about the impact of wide-scale deployment of technologies which may impact civil liberties and lead to problems of racial profiling and intrusive data collection.
The use of algorithmic “risk-based targeting” is among the concerns of civil liberties activists.
These tools may “replicate the biases of their programmers, burden vulnerable communities, lack democratic transparency, and encourage the collection and analysis of ever-increasing amounts of data,” said a letter to lawmakers endorsed by the American Civil Liberties Union, Freedom of the Press Foundation and National Immigration Law Center and others.
How smart is too smart?
The letter also warned that “cutting edge” technologies such as facial recognition, iris scans and voice recognition “raise significant privacy concerns.”
“Unchecked use of surveillance tech undermines everyone’s right to privacy, especially the most vulnerable members of society,” said Elliot Harmon of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of the groups endorsing the letter.
“This could mean increased use of drones, which indiscriminately monitor everyone near the border — including American citizens and other legal residents going about their daily lives.”
Other activists also warned against moving too fast on a tech-based solution.
