CC4DR: Dear Léa, while CC4DR members have previously known you from your work at Eurocities, you have re-joined the Coalition in your new position as a digital rights consultant at Bordeaux Métropole. In which roles and groupings are you active within the CC4DR and Bordeaux Métropole, and what are the main projects you are working on?

Léa Lebon: Within the Coalition, there are three main groups in which I have responsibilities. First of all, there is Mission 6 of the Coalition, which is the working group focusing on advocacy and outreach. Here, I am leading two projects: The campaign for the International Digital Rights Days, and also our presence at the Smart City Expo World Conference in Barcelona. 

I'm also coordinating the European Chapter of the coalition, which is the chapter gathering all the European Members, as we also have one for North America and South America. Here, the purpose is to be an intermediary between European cities providing them with more visibility and opportunities for involvement in the coalition, and to have regular targeted contacts with them. And then there is something else that is related to my engagement in Bordeaux Métropole: The working group on Digital Rights in Africa. This working group was created this summer to expand our network in Africa, thanks to cooperation with AfroLeadership and other African civil society organizations.

As far as my tasks at Bordeaux Métropole are concerned, I will also mention the Eurocities Digital Forum: Bordeaux Métropole will organize the 2025 Digital Forum from 2 to 4 April 2025, and we are also a part of the Eurocities Shadow Commission, in which Delphine Jamet, Digital Councillor for Bordeaux Métropole, is a shadow commissioner for digital inclusion. So I am also supporting these two aspects of the work.

While at Eurocities, Léa authored a paper titled “Cities and migrants‘ rights in the era of digitalisation”, which was recently published at the Friedrich-Ebert foundation. The paper, available here, examines what impact the digital regulations in the new EU Pact on Migration and Asylum have on migrants, and what role cities have in protecting migrant’s digital rights.

CC4DR: What sparked your interest in this topic, and can you tell us more about the research process for your paper?

Léa Lebon: I was monitoring policy developments for city members about EU legislation, and I realized that the reform on the Common European asylum system - called at the time the “new Pact on migration and asylum” - included digital regulations that seemed concerning regarding the digital human rights of migrants. After talking about it with the Digital Forum team and also the Migration team of Eurocities, we agreed that there was an interest to understand how these big regulations also have implications where we would not expect them at first reading. Also, taking a city's perspective allows you to see the concrete consequences of overarching legislation on the life of people and small administrations such as local governments.

Regarding my research process: The purpose was first to have a clear picture of the already existing literature on the matter, on digital rights of migrants, challenges in the context of cities, and also about the digitalisation of the integration policies of local governments and municipalities more specifically, while adding Eurocities’ and my personal knowledge of cities, realities and local policies to existing research on the topic. I also did five interviews with staff from cities, the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions.

CC4DR: What are your main findings that resulted from your research? Do your findings match your initial expectations when you started the research project? 

My research found that the Pact and the migration policies of the past decade have a tendency to prioritize surveillance mechanisms, leading to an extended use of technologies such as databases to store biometric data and interoperability systems. These technologies, in the case of migration policies, are then used to facilitate, for example, facial recognition, digital surveillance, leading to apprehension and detention of migrants, and often return policies. This presents a risk, not only for migrants but for many EU citizens and residents: For example, we have biased technologies, and provisions in the pact could lead to  discriminatory behaviors in the police, and to unfair treatment based on the skin color. Also, we are building more and more complex and very large data infrastructures, which means that data breaches automatically become a bigger risk and can affect the personal data of many people.

Regarding the digital rights of migrants more specifically, there is also another very concerning trend that is the fact that we criminalize migrants, meaning we consider them de facto as criminals. We can see it because we apply the same kind of procedure to migrants that we apply for criminals. This leads to a tendency to not apply to them the same fundamental rights that we apply to all citizens. This especially the case for migrants who is at the legal stages. This does not just affect their fundamental rights to freedom, data protection, and privacy, but also their concrete survival: As my paper shows, it restricts their access to public services and creates more exclusion and poverty in the migrant communities.

Besides the moral and ethical concerns about this situation, the exclusion of migrants also represents a cost for cities, because cities are in many ways in charge of implementing the social policies of a country and supervising the general well-being of the territory they are in charge of. And by providing a structure and a legislative framework that can deepen social inequalities and poverty, the EU is actually adding another layer of difficulty for municipalities and local administrations to accomplish their task. It impacts, for example, their ability to reach out to the most vulnerable people in communities who need access to healthcare and education, or who seek protection from abuse: Migrants are more and more afraid of giving any data and personal information because they know it can be used against them in the end, and they could be detected, apprehended, and even returned to their home country.

I would still like to finish with a more positive note on technologies: While techno-solutionism is a big problem, my paper argues that technologies can also be used in a way that supports integration and inclusion policies, particularly in cities: I interviewed officials from Amsterdam, Berlin and Espoo, who are using technologies to facilitate access to information, social connection, storage of necessary documents for migrants like IDs, or diplomas to recognise their education background. They are also using relocating matching systems that are based on cities’, migrants’ and refugees’ needs and preferences. So the findings show the importance of building a constructive dialogue, and finding a balance between choosing technologies that do not overrule the protection of fundamental rights and especially not relying blindly on technologies to resolve our problems, but still integrating technologies that can support human solutions within a fundamental range framework and with humans in control.

CC4DR: Cities are not the first actors that people have in mind when it comes to defending migrants’ rights. What are entry points for cities to become active on this matter, and how can cities become more visible as actors for digital rights in general and migrants’ digital rights in particular?

Léa Lebon: Cities are not responsible for the migration management policies, as they do not have competencies especially in border control and border management policies, which is mainly what the new Pact on Migration is dealing with. But they are in direct contact with migration and refugees, through public services and because they work with local NGOs and other stakeholders. They have education competencies, they are also dealing with civic matters such as ID cards, social benefits, etc. Sometimes - and this is more and more the case - there are also new responsibilities towards the integration of migrants.

Migration management first means to perform a certain kind of selection of the migrants we want to have within our borders, but afterwards they need to be relocated into the territory - and this is where cities’ responsibilities come in: Most of the time, migrants and refugees are hosted, welcomed and integrated in cities and urban areas. At the same time, they have a role in the digitalization of society in relation to migrants. As I show in my paper, cities are using technologies to facilitate integration policies and initiatives; they are also digitizing services, creating data spaces, using AI large language models for municipal chatbots, etc.

On this basis, there are quite a few things they could do. First of all, cities could support migrants in making them aware of their rights and the existing protection regarding privacy and data protection. They also have a role in ensuring equal treatment for.all the residents which gives them a privileged role in the mainstreaming of fundamental rights monitoring.systems and impact assessments, to evaluate the risk of using new technologies for surveillance and immigration enforcement. Especially because they can reach out directly to the migrant communities to understand not only the obstacles they have, but also their fears and feelings about a new technology being implemented and changes they will have to navigate in their new home country. Also, cities can always keep in mind the assessment of the costs and benefits on the life and human rights of people when implementing a new technology, and they can themselves try to develop technologies as much as possible within the fundamental rights framework.

CC4DR: Your research shows that EU provisions related to digital screening and data-sharing create a two-tiered system at the expense of migrants. How should EU rules improve to foster an inclusive legislative environment protecting migrants’ digital rights?

Léa Lebon: I have previously mentioned how cities are active to promote migrants’ digital rights, but they are also facing limitations, budget cuts, and human resources shortages. In this sense, the EU has the role to try to simplify their work as much as possible, so that cities can accomplish their responsibilities. 

For that, my first recommendation to the EU - which is also voiced by a lot of NGOs and experts on the field - is to ensure a data sharing firewall between key public.services and Immigration enforcement services. In order not to compromise the capacities and to establish trust between cities, administration and migrants, it is really necessary to have these firewalls to ensure that the data and the responsibilities of immigration enforcement are kept separate from the delivery of local services. This protection from data sharing abuses will allow cities to leverage opportunities of information sharing systems, because both them and migrants will not be afraid of the risk that it can pose, This way, migrants might be more inclined to share data with cities, and are more likely to use urban digital technologies if they know that they do not compromise their future.

My second recommendation calls for the development of a coherent and transparent interoperability framework between the different levels of governance. We already have the European Interoperability Act that was enacted last year, but we clearly need to take more into account local governments in this framework: They should be involved in developing a coherent and harmonized legislative framework where everyone knows where the data is going and who has access to it. And civil servants - not only those in the digital department, but also those working in migration and social affairs - should have the skills and awareness to understand the extent and operation of the interoperability system and data spaces they are working with.
We have seen that there are a lot of opportunities for cities to help migrants understand their human rights. But to do that, it's very important that cities can be involved to some extent in the digitalisation of migration policy processes, especially ones related to integration policies, such as relocating systems and surveillance within the EU territory. And it is equally important to support the capacities of cities to ensure the digital rights of migrants and refugees, through funding or supporting programmes for expert knowledge.

CC4DR: What role have digital rights played at previous stations throughout your career?

Léa Lebon: I have tried to specialize in human rights in the online world since the beginning of my career. I started with an internship at the Foundation for Digital Inclusion: Here, we were building field actions and initiatives to make sure that marginalized people such as people with disabilities, migrants, elderly people or homeless people have the devices and skills needed to access the Internet. Then, I followed with a traineeship for an association of universities, where I studied an initiative to counter disinformation through training of academic staff and scientific mediation. 

And afterwards, at Eurocities, I continued this work by coordinating the Digital Divide Task Force, as well as the Task Force on Trustworthy Information, which led me to write a report on the state and challenges of this information in cities. Eurocities is also where I became involved in the discussions on digital rights, where the work was all about promoting human rights in the digital world and in cities. 

CC4DR: Which initiatives or projects related to digital rights that you have contributed to are you most proud of?

Léa Lebon: I am very proud of the report on disinformation that I contributed to: It was a final deliverable of the Task Force on Trustworthy Information, and it was quite important because it showed how much cities - through their legal competencies as well as their direct contact with citizens - have a role to play in tackling the very big challenges that we face right now regarding disinformation, misinformation and malinformation.

I am also thrilled about the launch of the Working group on digital rights in African cities, which I hope will help us get African cities and civil society organizations involved in the discussion on working together to foster access to the Internet, including through digital inclusion, countering Internet shutdowns and enhancing data protection and privacy.

But what I am looking forward to the most is to see all the work through the Digital Divide task force come true. We have designed what could look like a large-scale project involving cities all around the world to tackle the digital divide, and make sure that everyone has access to digital rights. We are now waiting for the funding opportunity to kick-start this project, and I really hope it will come soon.

CC4DR: What are your plans as a member of the CC4DR, and in which activities related to digital rights can we expect to find you in the near future?

Léa Lebon: As I mentioned before, at the moment I am focusing on our advocacy work, the visibility of the coalition and the working group on Africa, so you will be able to see me there quite a lot. I will especially coordinate the development of our advocacy messages and recommendations to make our concerns and voices heard at the international level, including the European level. This work.will be based on the results of the activities in our missions, and all the information we are gathering from city members, through, for example, interviews or whenever they share initiatives.

To support the working group in Africa, I will increase our knowledge on the role of municipalities. In particular, I will try to create an overview of the digital transformation competencies of municipalities in some African countries, and also the digital rights challenges encountered within the context of African cities.

CC4DR: Would you like to add anything that you believe is important for CC4DR members to read?

Léa Lebon: I would like to invite our members to participate in the International Digital Rights Days (IDRD): I think this is very important because we can see that human rights need to be protected more than ever, offline, but also especially online; and cities have a real role to play in it. So by raising awareness in our own cities and by joining the movement at a global level, we can increase our visibility and start making a difference.

And I would also like to invite the cities to contact us: If they would like to be more involved in the coalition, there is plenty of work that we can do and that needs to be done. And I think the more we are, the more we can do it. So do not hesitate to reach out to us!

You can contact Léa Lebon at le.lebon@bordeaux-metropole.fr for more information about the CC4DR and the International Digital Rights Days, taking place on 10 & 11 December 2024.

You are interested in reading more about the report on cities and migrants‘ rights in the era of digitalisation?

Find the full report here