A new investigation has revealed that the Netherlands may be using secret & potentially illegal algorithm to profile visa applicants.
Lighthouse Reports and the NRC conducted an investigation, which found that the European nation had been screening applicants based on their ethnicity.
A report commissioned/charged by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands in 2022 found/observed that the agency was filled with structural racism. Foreign minister Wopke Hoekstra promised reform.
However, newly leaked documents obtained by Lighthouse Reports and the NRC indicate. that the actual warning was issued regarding a secret algorithm that ethnically profiles all visa applicants.
Netherlands Allegedly Used Ethnic Profiling in Schengen Visa Application Process
They show a warning about possible ethnic discrimination from the agency’s own data protection officer, who is responsible for ensuring that the use of the data is legal. The ministry has continued to use the system despite these warnings, according to a Lighthouse Reports statement.
As indicated by a SchengenVisaInfo.com report, sources likewise said that the Service of International concerns of the Netherlands has been utilizing a profiling framework to compute. the gamble of candidates applying for a short-stay visa to enter. the Netherlands and the other Schengen Region part states beginning around 2015.
The investigation/examination has also found that since then, the algorithm has profiled millions of visa applicants by using variables like gender, nationality, and age.
It implies that individuals rated as “high risk” are placed on an “intensive track,” which entails prolonged scrutiny and investigation.
