Marketplace Tech Is surveillance technology a more humane alternative to detaining immigrants?
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Oct 14, 2025 
Petra Molnar, Associate Director at the Refugee Law Lab and a researcher focusing on migration technology and human rights, discusses the implications of using surveillance technology to monitor released immigrants. She reveals how tools like smartphone apps and ankle monitors can act as 'digital shackles,' causing psychological distress. Molnar emphasizes the need for meaningful scrutiny of immigration tech, advocating for human rights-respecting designs. She also highlights the potential benefits of technology when it supports asylum seekers effectively.
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Digital Incarceration Effects
- Surveillance tech like apps and ankle monitors follow migrants into daily life and can be more intrusive than physical detention.
- Petra Molnar calls this a form of "digital incarceration" that brings surveillance "into your home."
Ankle Monitor's Crushing Anxiety
- Sam, a UK immigrant, felt his world contract after a glitchy ankle monitor made him avoid leaving home.
- He described his mental health collapsing and realizing "I wasn't free. I was in an outside prison."
Digital Measures Can Be Worse
- Early ankle-bracelet pilots were so onerous some people preferred returning to physical detention.
- Petra Molnar notes digital measures can worsen family strain and make alternatives unworkable.