Resumen de Datafication of the hotspots in the blind spot of supervisory authorities

Sarah Tas

• The hotspot approach used to contain asylum seekers at the borders of Europe has been heavilycriticized for deplorable conditions and multiple fundamental rights violations. This article dives intoan underexplored issue in the hotspots, namely its datafication. It explores the question of the pro-tection of personal data, and analyses whether the supervisory arrangements in place are sufficientto ensure the protection of personal data of individuals at the borders, or whether, as the currentEuropean Data Protection Supervisor states it, data protection is too often suspended at EuropeanUnion borders. While supervision is in place to monitor the hotspots, this contribution shows that itremains limited and that many blind spots exist that fully escape any supervision. These emerge, forexample by reasons of the complex legal framework of the hotspots, or of the informal nature of theexchanges of data.