Digital negotiations
in Student Migration:

Infrastructures and Impact

by Rohan Pai, Sameer Bajaj, Amrita Nanda and Supratik Mitra

At a Glance

The India-Germany student migration corridor reveals a fundamental contradiction in digital migration governance: while the number of Indian students migrating to Germany has doubled over the last five years with Indian students currently forming the largest international community on German campuses, the digital infrastructure designed to support them creates new forms of exclusion and surveillance. Analysis of 12+ interconnected systems demonstrates how students' personal data flows through multiple jurisdictions with minimal transparency or agency. 

Our Diagnosis

Digital systems and larger infrastructure created or remodified are touted by nation-states as efficient and increasing security. However, they have enabled the rise of technocratic institutions imbued with coloniality which view international students—especially from the Global South—with suspicion. 

For international students, the prevailing technocratic systems undermine social, spatial, historical, and cultural complexities, creating digital systems which are exclusionary and that offer easier access to information and opportunities to students belonging to the Global North.

The Migration Infrastructure Assessment allows us to analyze migration corridors in relation to each other and categorize them as nascent, emerging or mature based on:



  • How their digital and offline infrastructure is designed and governed (State of Digital Infrastructure, Governance of Digital Infrastructure)

  • How they enable community participation (Community Agency)

  • How communities access information and engage with narratives (Information Landscape)



It assesses corridors on the state of their digital infrastructure, how such infrastructure is governed, the state of community agency, the nature of their policy environment and information landscape.

Insights from this study reveal that while digital and data governance infrastructure along India-Germany student migration channels are emerging, policies and safeguards for student migrants are still nascent. 

Lay of the Land

Through a Community Lens

Along the Periphery

Across Data and the Digital

Within our Framework

The Path Forward

Behind the Research

Acknowledgements

Lay of the Land

Background

Student cross-border mobility

International student mobility has surged from 2 million globally in 2000 to over 6.4 million in 2021 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics), becoming a major component of global migration since WWII. The number of people choosing to migrate for higher education is known to increase much faster than aggregate global migration.

What drives this migration: 

A. The global transition to a post-industrial knowledge economy

In a majority of cases, education is not often cited as a primary driver of migration. Instead: 

  • Knowledge advantage: The global shift to a post-industrial knowledge economy links economic prospects with education. Nations prioritize cultivating well-educated, highly skilled, flexible workforces as critical assets for economic prosperity (She and Wotherspoon). In the last year, Canada, UK, Australia, and Germany adjusted immigration policies to attract highly skilled labour for critical domestic industries.

  • International students are ideal workers: Those with temporary residence status are seen as suitable for domestic workforce integration due to recognized qualifications, country-specific experience/skills, and social connections gained through host country higher education. This allows low-income country migrants to move to high-income countries seeking greater financial prospects.

B. A knowledge economy designed
to uphold Western hegemony

The transnational education industry operates within a knowledge economy designed to uphold Western dominance. Global North institutions have historically promoted Western education as superior quality and offering opportunities unavailable in the Global South. In fact, of 6.4 million international students in 2021, 5 out of 7 were enrolled in high-income countries; 60% of international students came from middle-income countries, with China representing 16% and India 8%.

The Creation of Migration Infrastructure

In this way, individuals who can afford it purchase knowledge capital needed for global marketplace success, incentivizing states and institutions to create supporting migration infrastructures.


  • Düvell and Preiss define migration infrastructures 

as multidimensional systems consisting of:

    • Natural and architectural features for travel

    • Material resources and knowledge used to navigate travel

    • Organized structures (administrations, businesses, NGOs) holding resources and providing migration-related information/services

    • Individual actors populating these nature, structures, and organizations

The advent of digital migration infrastructure

Migration infrastructures significantly influence trajectory and decision-making in international student migration. University reputation, scholarship availability, living costs, employer-university interactions, labour market considerations, residency/citizenship prospects form critical infrastructural levers. These are executed through organized structures (administrations, businesses, NGOs) that create resources and knowledge to mediate migration processes based on priorities set by the global knowledge economy.

The advent of digital migration infrastructure

Migration infrastructures are increasingly digitalized today with technology-mediated decision-making processes, adding new dimensions to international student migration.

  • Education consultancies/intermediaries provide information on immigration, residence permits, and financing during the application stage

  • State digitize key instruments like travel visas and amend data protection guidelines to advance policy goals

  • Finally, international students also create online channels and social media groups to share lived experiences, build support networks, and inform potential migrants about their journey

The university as a site of surveillance

However, drastic digitalisation in this context has many implications, with higher education institutions across the world risking evolution into sites of surveillance and control.

“As higher education institutions are viewed as the sites of control to uphold the post-industrial knowledge economy, they are incentivised to cooperate with state authorities who wish to control population inflows based on their requirements. Decision-making for migration management is dictated by state intentions, and this is perpetuated by higher education institutions closely monitoring and tracking student movement and behaviour within their campuses. Eventually, international students remain tied to pre-existing power structures that undermine their lived experience in the host country.”

  • While surveillance through border technologies is extensively documented, the evolution of higher education institutions into digital state-like entities that track student movement through mandated data collection is an emerging trend that raises significant concerns about the privacy and autonomy of international students.

  • This is carried out through data collection, assessment, and evaluation of students, with a history of ‘state spying, recruitment and surveillance’ and sharing personal data for security purposes.

  • Civil society organisations in Germany highlight the use of various technologies within the classroom and on university premises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some German universities began to use proctoring software to monitor students taking their exams, raising concerns about the software violating fundamental rights by processing a large amount of personal data, including identity, location, videos of movements, and the student’s room. While the GDPR contains provisions to prevent misuse of video surveillance in schools, the threat of constant identification through cameras can exacerbate the existing power structures between a Global North institution and a Global South immigrant. 

  • These instances have been observed in other institutions in the Global North, such as in UCLA when administrators proposed using facial recognition software for security surveillance on campus. In response, Fight for the Future ran facial recognition technology on more than 400 photos of UCLA faculty members and athletes and found the software incorrectly matched 58 of those with photos in a mugshot database—majority of those misidentified by the database being people of colour.

  • More recently, as student demands for universities to divest from financial investments in Israel’s ongoing offensive have taken the form of protests, facial recognition technologies and social media monitoring tools have been used extensively by law enforcement officials deployed on university premises.In the United States, 1,900 people on at least 43 college campuses were arrested at pro-Palestine protests. It is reported that in the past, at least 37 colleges have used Social Sentinel, a social media monitoring tool to surveil student protesters on campuses.

  • There is a lack of visibility into how the data collected by institutions at different points of the journey is stored, shared with other stakeholders and used in turn to govern the international student community. Law enforcement offices have a history of disproportionately deploying surveillance technology against marginalised communities, effectively blurring the lines between border security, immigration control, law enforcement and higher education institutions. The freedom of expression of individuals belonging to marginalised groups is constantly curtailed through nefarious data sharing practices amongst these entities. 

The India-Germany corridor 

Our research aims to unpack these questions on
the implications of digitalisation and data-driven decision-making by narrowing it down and examining student migration within the Indo-German corridor. As international student migration is witnessing an upward trend globally, the India-Germany corridor has developed into a major site of interest. 


An evolving regulatory environment

The GDPR, the EU AI act, the Interoperable Europe Act, the convening of the Eurodac group, the database infrastructure being implemented through the EU Agency for large-scale IT systems (eu-LISA), and the Entry/Exit System (EES)—an automated IT system for the registration of travellers from third-countries yet to come into force, will have strong intersections with the journey of a student migrating to Germany from India. Together, these frameworks will shape how a student's personal data is collected, processed, and shared across EU systems (from visa application and biometric registration to border crossings and residence permits). They will also determine what automated decision-making tools can be used in their migration process.

Migration management of the 'undesirable migrant'

There are concerns around the ability of such systems to manage migration without discriminating against marginalized populations. 

  • States treat migrants and asylum-seekers differently based on origin country, using visas and data infrastructure to exclude those deemed undesirable

  • Global travel ease is functionally divided along North-South lines; while Visa-free travel has been expanded between Global North states and within regional regimes like EU's Schengen Area, tight Global North visa regimes limit options for large portions of world's population, preventing the fulfillment of mobility aspirations

  • Citizens of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries have gained mobility rights while similar rights for other regions have stagnated or decreased, particularly for citizens from African countries

  • These regulations being deliberated by state actors display the possibilities for datafication that have emerged through digitalisation and automation of migration control, putting into question the veracity of these systems to fairly manage the cross-border mobility of migrants and asylum-seekers through digital migration infrastructures.

Growing skills shortages in Germany and its focus on attracting skilled labour

Demographic shifts in Germany—an ageing population and low birth rate, are feeding into a growing skills shortage, with the Federal Government being prompted to take proactive measures to offset this trend. The German-Indian Migration and Mobility Agreement 2022, marks this shift in the Federal Government's outlook towards attracting skilled labour, with a focus on implementing legal processes and policy measures to incentivise the movement of qualified young Indians to Germany.


As a result, numbers of Indian students migrating to Germany have doubled over the last five years; Indian students are now the largest international community on German campuses—a trend reinforced by developing digital migration infrastructures within an evolving regulatory environment.


State control over mixed migration

Transnational education as a product of the Western-led knowledge economy has roots in discrimination, control, and imperialist bordering practices against international students. State efforts to control population inflows through apparatus historically used in international student migration play a role in shaping mixed migration journeys.


The perils of seamless data sharing

“As denoted by our survey, 55% of migrants who studied in Germany reported that lack of information regarding how entities are processing personal data is proving to be a major point of concern for international students as it renders them vulnerable to arbitrary action from these entities. This could have far-reaching implications based on the identity of the migrant—often a critical factor in determining how international students are treated by institutions surveilling them.”

Large-scale digital infrastructure such as the Visa Information System, are supported by institutional mechanisms that enable seamless data sharing across multiple stakeholders. These processes are expedited by the ability to screen migrants and asylum seekers who are considered undesirable by the state, using information they have derived through a techno-political assemblage of multiple databases.[64]

For instance, the European Commission’s Migration and Home Affairs department has recently reached a political agreement to facilitate the flow of air passengers entering the Schengen area:

Setting a mandatory list of Advanced Passenger Information (API) data to be collected by air carriers from passengers on all flights to, from and within the EU.

Collecting data using “automated means” to increase the “reliability and efficiency of data collection”,

and the central management of data flows through an “EU-LISA router” that will “replace the current system of multiple connections between air carriers and national authorities,”to form a GDPR-compliant interoperable system.

Mapping the Territory:
Data and the Digital on the Move

This section explores the interlinkages between digital migration infrastructures in both countries, and how these affect the migratory trajectories of Indian students moving to Germany for higher education. An added emphasis has been placed on deconstructing the data flows that have been observed when students interact with digital migration infrastructures in their journey, to inform readers about the implications it could have on the migrant when stakeholders have access to information about migrants through various data sources.

Who are the players in the ecosystem?

Student cross-border mobility

International student mobility has surged from 2 million globally in 2000 to over 6.4 million in 2021 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics), becoming a major component of global migration since WWII. The number of people choosing to migrate for higher education is known to increase much faster than aggregate global migration.

Service Providers

(Private Sector)

Research

Organisations

Community Actors (support or solidarity)

Facilitators (Humanitarian Organisations)

Restrictors

(Vigilante Groups)

Advocacy

(NGOs & CSOs)

Entity

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Personal Data:

  • Name

  • Email address

  • Country of origin

  • Country of residence

  • Current level of education

  • Subject area

  • Age

  • Gender

  • Graduation year

  • How you became aware of the DAAD

  • IP address

Non-Personal Data:

  • Date and time of access

  • Duration of visit

  • Operating system

  • Volume of data sent

  • Type of access

  • Domain name

The DAAD website includes social media plug-ins that collect information upon user engagement. Social media websites can connect user information to accounts and track IP addresses. Google Analytics is used, with data stored on Google servers in the United States. Third-party cookies used by other providers can display adverts or integrate social media content. External data recipients: Processors for improving technical infrastructure; Public bodies (e.g., prosecutors, courts, fiscal authorities) for legal reasons; Private bodies based on consent or mandatory requirements.

Data processing in third countries has verification and guarantees through EU-US Privacy Shield or agreements. DAAD’s cookie data is erased after 7 days unless exceptional circumstances apply. Third-party providers, social media platforms, and public institutions in Germany and third countries can add to student data assemblages. Students have minimal knowledge of other data sources and their impact.

Uni-assist

For international prospective students, uni-assist offers a central point of contact for applying to universities in Germany. Its core responsibility is the evaluation of international student applications and determining their eligibility for target universities. Uni-assist operates its own IT development department, which develops in-house software solutions to support the highly specialised application processes, and ensures seamless interfacing with all common university systems.

  • Personal Data:

  • Name, Address, Telephone number, Email address, Banking details, Financial income data, Scholarship information, Educational records, School transcripts, References, Language proficiency (TOEFL or IELTS) provided through ETS Non-Personal Data: None identified

The website uses Matomo (formerly Piwik) software. Matomo saves a cookie on the user's device; data collected is analysed under a pseudonym. IP address is anonymised before processing; deleted after 3 months.

User’s application documents deleted after 3 years. Public authorities and offices have access. A connection to YouTube servers is only established when a user engages with embedded YouTube videos.

Payment data transmitted to service providers; may transfer to online payment services, financial institutions, banks, and credit card companies. Accounting-relevant data deleted after 10 years. Certain data may be transmitted to the applicant's country of origin or outside EU/EEA.

Students have limited agency in knowing who tracks their movement. Financial institutions may use data assemblages to measure financial capability and mobility.

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

Mapping digital infrastructures

By studying the digital journey map, we developed a framework that explains the interactions of students with digital migration infrastructures, the resulting data assemblages and data infrastructures, and the decision-making process that is dictated by stakeholders in these positions. The digital infrastructures mapped in the case of international students moving from India to Germany can be categorised into formal and informal digital migration infrastructures. 

Formal migration infrastructure consists of systems that are primarily deployed by state, higher education institutions and private sector actors. These are usually preceded by legal or regulatory backing to manage migration, and provide student migrants with key sources of information to aid in mediating the journey. Examples include the Visa Information System, Air Passenger Information System, Passenger Name Records, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Uni-Assist, German Language Centres, standardised testing institutions, health insurance and residence permit authorities among others at different stages of the journey.

Informal migration infrastructure consists of systems that can be deployed by a wide range of actors, but the foundation of these technologies remains community-oriented or community-led. These can be used by students as a form of resistance against impositions made by formal migration infrastructures, to derive further visibility into information that is gatekept by formal institutions. Examples include, but are not limited to, social media groups on Facebook, WhatsApp and Reddit, YouTube channels that act as student guides, and clubs and societies originating within the universities.

The creation of data assemblages
and migration infrastructures

The infrastructure created by these systems consists largely of state institutions and some private actors.  While it sheds light on flows of people, it also  aids profiling, forecasting, and conceptualising migration, which is cause for concern. Thus, state institutions accumulate power through the generation of data, control of access to data, and the merging of various data, but also through their analysis and interpretation. In this way, data assemblages can be combined for control of data and its interpretations for stronger technological capacity. 


The international student as a user and data subject

The international student who continues to occupy the category of the user becomes a data subject whose rights are dependent upon their behaviour within the digital infrastructure. 

The creation of such opaque infrastructure offers minimal visibility to international students into how their data is being processed and creates vulnerabilities in protecting themselves from the negative effects of imposed visibility and action from these entities.

The creation of data doubles

The evolution of digital migration infrastructures depicts how they are no longer created to only record migration flows or are limited to a single stakeholder. They are extensible through data assemblages, and the formation of data infrastructures envisioned by various stakeholders with differing logic for understanding and controlling migration.

 These digital infrastructures and the implications of the data they collect and operationalise cannot be understood in isolation, and it is important to analyse how these systems engage with one another through constant data sharing. 

The outcome is a multiplicity of data flows working towards differing ends depending on the stakeholders' intent and accessibility to the data.

State institutions dominate international student migration infrastructure, exemplified by centralized systems like the Visa Information System that coordinate with various actors mediating the migration journey.. 

The digital migration infrastructure is conceptualised to reinstate the intra-government policies through the different institutions and bureaucracies, creating digital personas or data doubles of the international student.

These personas can be constantly surveilled and analysed, giving limited agency to the international student to negotiate how their data will be used and by whom. To ensure the digital persona meets the criteria set by the state, generating constant digital flows becomes important. 

The categorization, configuration and homogenization of the international student

As highlighted by Cranston and Esson, the digitalisation of borders allows states to use digital systems to exert control at the unitary level, enabling them to categorise individuals crossing the border.

The categorisation of the ‘international student’ is carried out using criteria informed by government policies and administrative capacity. 

Institutional forces then further reinforce these categories (such as regulations to automate border data collection, or mandates on universities for those eligible to be sponsored for visas)

Higher education institutions adopting the terminology of ‘overseas’ and ‘home’ as fee categories further emphasise the role that geographical location, or residency, has in producing the international student as a population category. 

This further undermines the identity of the student migrant, failing to acknowledge that international students are not a homogenous population. They are prone to internal tensions due to differing types of mobility, country contexts, and socioeconomic backgrounds.

Such a regime leaves student migrants vulnerable to the expectations of immigration authorities. 

From the perspective of the state, this is a highly effective biopolitical technique for migration management because, “to secure a student visa, the individual has little choice but to ensure their declared aspirations and subsequent actions align with the visa conditions, that is, map onto what immigration authorities deemed constitutive of an ‘international student’”

  • The receiving state configures the mobile subject regarding health, wealth, labour/leisure, and risk, ensuring the individual is capable of learning in a specific language, is financially self-sufficient, and poses a low risk to the health and security of the nation. Information like this is pre-programmed into digital screening systems to ensure these criteria are being met by student migrants.

  • The universalist conceptualization situates all international students as a homogenous group with access to and prior knowledge of proscribed digital technologies and undermines social inequities; students from the Global South often do not have the prerequisite knowledge to engage with such opaque digital systems and negotiate how their information is being collected*.

  • Therefore it is not just a question of how technology is deployed in migration infrastructure but who it is trying to protect from “risk”, who it is more welcoming for, and what aspects of the migrant it chooses to recognise.


*Sue Timmis & Patricia Muhuro (2019) De-coding or de-colonising the technocratic university? Rural students’ digital transitions to South African higher education, Learning, Media and Technology, 44:3, 252-266, DOI: 10.1080/17439884.2019.1623250

Resistance of categorization

Nevertheless, these categorisations see resistance from students due to their self-perceived identity that may not completely align with the categorisation tendered by higher education institutions—prompting them to rely on other forms of digitally-mediated communication that serve their specific needs (for instance, through community social media groups).

An emerging state-private sector nexus

Additionally, digitalisation has paved the way for private sector companies to collect critical, personal data on their systems about individuals crossing the border through advanced technologies that are key components of immigration enforcement today. These systems are opaque, and there is negligible information available on how they process data, who they share it with, and for how long and what purposes they store it for.

The other side of the coin: Defining information bundles

While student migrants interact with a range of formal and informal infrastructures that exist across the journey from application to integration, each individual’s experience differs based on their context (first-generation learners, language barriers, choice of program) and socioeconomic background. To accommodate these differences in access to digital infrastructure, we categorise an individual’s use of a set of digital systems as their information bundle—a digital bundle of information sources includes the sources that a person relies on repeatedly and does not include occasional visits to a new site. 

Conceptualising usage of digital infrastructure as information bundles helps to view digital systems from the individual's perspective, providing us insights on how each migrant’s activity may differ. 

For instance, an individual who comes from an urban, English-speaking background might not be required to provide standardised tests to prove language proficiency, and may rely on education consultancies to complete parts of their application. However, a student from a rural, non-English speaking background may have to rely heavily on WhatsApp communities to translate information on websites and help them understand mandatory processes in the absence of acquaintances who have travelled to Germany before.

When international students move across national borders, they often do not automatically make the digital move to new sources of information. Many international students do not always make a corresponding digital move and continue to rely on previously established bundles of information sources.


Student Networks and Social Media

These community-led and community-oriented infrastructures are built around ethics of support, providing aspiring international students with the agency to negotiate with information asymmetry in infrastructure deployed by the state and other high education institutions.

Examples include WhatsApp and Facebook groups. These groups are more accessible, though in some cases, membership relies on existing social and economic capital.

‘Study in Germany’ Facebook and WhatsApp groups provide constant support throughout the different phases of the journey with discussions of the pros and cons of Germany, the various types of universities in Germany, the admission requirements, and employment outcomes. 

These groups have also been successful in providing localized knowledge and specific information about visa officers and organizing important papers and finances. 

Some members offer 1-on-1 assistance and support for a small fee—resembling traditional consultants—and also have YouTube channels, where they provide insights into the lifestyle and experience of living in Germany.

The groups thus create an accessible network that helps provide new information through national networks, which aid integration (for example, insurance, permits, accommodation, etc.). 

The networks these groups create democratize aspiration and knowledge by making previously gatekept information more accessible, helping overcome apprehension and isolation created by administrative systems and increasing mobility for people who may have not been able to access it in the past.

How do data assemblages and information bundles differ?

Information bundles refer to the set of formal and informal digital infrastructures used by any individual during the migration journey. These are highly visible to the migrant user, and they retain the agency to pick which systems they choose to interact with during the process, unless they are acting due to existing legal mandates like in the case of border technologies. 


Data assemblages are produced as exhaust from the interactions between student migrants and digital systems, and these are only visible to stakeholders deploying, maintaining and governing these systems. International students have minimal clarity about how their data is stored and shared among these assemblages, unless this information is published in the public domain by actors deploying this infrastructure. A set of data assemblages form a data infrastructure, and these are used by stakeholders to make decisions pertaining to migration management.


The Creation of Migration

Infrastructure

The university as a site of surveillance

However, drastic digitalisation in this context has many implications, with higher education institutions across the world risking evolution into sites of surveillance and control.

“As higher education institutions are viewed as the sites of control to uphold the post-industrial knowledge economy, they are incentivised to cooperate with state authorities who wish to control population inflows based on their requirements. Decision-making for migration management is dictated by state intentions, and this is perpetuated by higher education institutions closely monitoring and tracking student movement and behaviour within their campuses. Eventually, international students remain tied to pre-existing power structures that undermine their lived experience in the host country.”

  • While surveillance through border technologies is extensively documented, the evolution of higher education institutions into digital state-like entities that track student movement through mandated data collection is an emerging trend that raises significant concerns about the privacy and autonomy of international students.

  • This is carried out through data collection, assessment, and evaluation of students, with a history of ‘state spying, recruitment and surveillance’ and sharing personal data for security purposes.

  • Civil society organisations in Germany highlight the use of various technologies within the classroom and on university premises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some German universities began to use proctoring software to monitor students taking their exams, raising concerns about the software violating fundamental rights by processing a large amount of personal data, including identity, location, videos of movements, and the student’s room. While the GDPR contains provisions to prevent misuse of video surveillance in schools, the threat of constant identification through cameras can exacerbate the existing power structures between a Global North institution and a Global South immigrant. 

  • These instances have been observed in other institutions in the Global North, such as in UCLA when administrators proposed using facial recognition software for security surveillance on campus. In response, Fight for the Future ran facial recognition technology on more than 400 photos of UCLA faculty members and athletes and found the software incorrectly matched 58 of those with photos in a mugshot database—majority of those misidentified by the database being people of colour.

  • More recently, as student demands for universities to divest from financial investments in Israel’s ongoing offensive have taken the form of protests, facial recognition technologies and social media monitoring tools have been used extensively by law enforcement officials deployed on university premises.In the United States, 1,900 people on at least 43 college campuses were arrested at pro-Palestine protests. It is reported that in the past, at least 37 colleges have used Social Sentinel, a social media monitoring tool to surveil student protesters on campuses.

  • There is a lack of visibility into how the data collected by institutions at different points of the journey is stored, shared with other stakeholders and used in turn to govern the international student community. Law enforcement offices have a history of disproportionately deploying surveillance technology against marginalised communities, effectively blurring the lines between border security, immigration control, law enforcement and higher education institutions. The freedom of expression of individuals belonging to marginalised groups is constantly curtailed through nefarious data sharing practices amongst these entities. 

The India-Germany corridor 

Our research aims to unpack these questions on
the implications of digitalisation and data-driven decision-making by narrowing it down and examining student migration within the Indo-German corridor. As international student migration is witnessing an upward trend globally, the India-Germany corridor has developed into a major site of interest. 


An evolving regulatory environment

The GDPR, the EU AI act, the Interoperable Europe Act, the convening of the Eurodac group, the database infrastructure being implemented through the EU Agency for large-scale IT systems (eu-LISA), and the Entry/Exit System (EES)—an automated IT system for the registration of travellers from third-countries yet to come into force, will have strong intersections with the journey of a student migrating to Germany from India. Together, these frameworks will shape how a student's personal data is collected, processed, and shared across EU systems (from visa application and biometric registration to border crossings and residence permits). They will also determine what automated decision-making tools can be used in their migration process.

Migration management of the 'undesirable migrant'

There are concerns around the ability of such systems to manage migration without discriminating against marginalized populations. 

States treat migrants and asylum-seekers differently based on origin country, using visas and data infrastructure to exclude those deemed undesirable

Global travel ease is functionally divided along North-South lines; while Visa-free travel has been expanded between Global North states and within regional regimes like EU's Schengen Area, tight Global North visa regimes limit options for large portions of world's population, preventing the fulfillment of mobility aspirations

Citizens of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries have gained mobility rights while similar rights for other regions have stagnated or decreased, particularly for citizens from African countries

These regulations being deliberated by state actors display the possibilities for datafication that have emerged through digitalisation and automation of migration control, putting into question the veracity of these systems to fairly manage the cross-border mobility of migrants and asylum-seekers through digital migration infrastructures.

Growing skills shortages in Germany and its focus on attracting skilled labour

Demographic shifts in Germany—an ageing population and low birth rate, are feeding into a growing skills shortage, with the Federal Government being prompted to take proactive measures to offset this trend. The German-Indian Migration and Mobility Agreement 2022, marks this shift in the Federal Government's outlook towards attracting skilled labour, with a focus on implementing legal processes and policy measures to incentivise the movement of qualified young Indians to Germany.


As a result, numbers of Indian students migrating to Germany have doubled over the last five years; Indian students are now the largest international community on German campuses—a trend reinforced by developing digital migration infrastructures within an evolving regulatory environment.


State control over mixed migration

Transnational education as a product of the Western-led knowledge economy has roots in discrimination, control, and imperialist bordering practices against international students. State efforts to control population inflows through apparatus historically used in international student migration play a role in shaping mixed migration journeys.


The perils of seamless data sharing

“As denoted by our survey, 55% of migrants who studied in Germany reported that lack of information regarding how entities are processing personal data is proving to be a major point of concern for international students as it renders them vulnerable to arbitrary action from these entities. This could have far-reaching implications based on the identity of the migrant—often a critical factor in determining how international students are treated by institutions surveilling them.”

Large-scale digital infrastructure such as the Visa Information System, are supported by institutional mechanisms that enable seamless data sharing across multiple stakeholders. These processes are expedited by the ability to screen migrants and asylum seekers who are considered undesirable by the state, using information they have derived through a techno-political assemblage of multiple databases.[64]

For instance, the European Commission’s Migration and Home Affairs department has recently reached a political agreement to facilitate the flow of air passengers entering the Schengen area:

Setting a mandatory list of Advanced Passenger Information (API) data to be collected by air carriers from passengers on all flights to, from and within the EU.

Collecting data using “automated means” to increase the “reliability and efficiency of data collection”,

and the central management of data flows through an “EU-LISA router” that will “replace the current system of multiple connections between air carriers and national authorities,”to form a GDPR-compliant interoperable system.

Tracing migration journeys/People on the Move

The student migration journey is mediated by a sequence of digital touchpoints. From research and application through acceptance, visa processing, travel and local registration, students interact with an array of formal and informal systems. How they move through this landscape varies by socio‑economic background, digital literacy and social capital.

The Journey Map, Explained:

The journey map illustrates the student migration process as a series of interconnected phases, highlighting the digital systems, both formal and informal, that students navigate. The map is divided into three main stages: the Application Phase, the Journey itself, and the Stay/Integration phase.

  1. Application Phase

This initial phase is dominated by "Information Bundles." Students gather and prepare the necessary documents and data for their applications.

Formal Systems: Students interact with official channels like the German Academic Exchange
Service (DAAD), language centers, and the uni-assist portal. They take language proficiency tests (IELTS) and handle official correspondence.

Informal Systems: Simultaneously, students rely heavily on informal digital networks. They use platforms like Facebook groups, YouTube channels, and WhatsApp communities to seek advice, share experiences, and access information not readily available through formal sources. These channels serve as crucial support systems for navigating the complexities of the application process.

  1. The Journey

This stage focuses on the formal migration process,
moving from visa application to arrival in Germany.

Visa Application: The process starts with the visa application system (VIS), which involves biometric identification and document submission. Students also interact with formal systems for obtaining an acceptance letter from a university and their official registration certificate.

Initial Settlement: Upon arrival, students are met with a new set of digital and administrative hurdles. They must open a blocked bank account, obtain a local SIM card, and secure internet connectivity. The map also highlights the role of university and student academies in providing support and information.

  1. Stay/Integration

This final phase represents the student's life in Germany,
with a continued reliance on digital infrastructures.

Digital Systems and Integration: Students continue to engage with systems for digital payment and digital education. These platforms are essential to manage daily life, from paying for services to participating in online classes. These systems, while offering convenience, can also pose challenges related to data privacy and surveillance.

A journey riddled with barriers

Throughout the journey, students face various barriers, such as a lack of reliable information, high costs, and language-related difficulties. Informal digital networks and information bundles are critical for students to successfully navigate the formal bureaucratic and digital systems.


The Path Forward

The student migration journey is mediated by a sequence of digital touchpoints. From research and application through acceptance, visa processing, travel and local registration, students interact with an array of formal and informal systems. How they move through this landscape varies by socio‑economic background, digital literacy and social capital.

The Journey Map, Explained:

The journey map illustrates the student migration process as a series of interconnected phases, highlighting the digital systems, both formal and informal, that students navigate. The map is divided into three main stages: the Application Phase, the Journey itself, and the Stay/Integration phase.

Entity

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Personal Data:

  • Name

  • Email address

  • Country of origin

  • Country of residence

  • Current level of education

  • Subject area

  • Age

  • Gender

  • Graduation year

  • How you became aware of the DAAD

  • IP address

Non-Personal Data:

  • Date and time of access

  • Duration of visit

  • Operating system

  • Volume of data sent

  • Type of access

  • Domain name

The DAAD website includes social media plug-ins that collect information upon user engagement. Social media websites can connect user information to accounts and track IP addresses. Google Analytics is used, with data stored on Google servers in the United States. Third-party cookies used by other providers can display adverts or integrate social media content. External data recipients: Processors for improving technical infrastructure; Public bodies (e.g., prosecutors, courts, fiscal authorities) for legal reasons; Private bodies based on consent or mandatory requirements.

Data processing in third countries has verification and guarantees through EU-US Privacy Shield or agreements. DAAD’s cookie data is erased after 7 days unless exceptional circumstances apply. Third-party providers, social media platforms, and public institutions in Germany and third countries can add to student data assemblages. Students have minimal knowledge of other data sources and their impact.

Uni-assist

For international prospective students, uni-assist offers a central point of contact for applying to universities in Germany. Its core responsibility is the evaluation of international student applications and determining their eligibility for target universities. Uni-assist operates its own IT development department, which develops in-house software solutions to support the highly specialised application processes, and ensures seamless interfacing with all common university systems.

  • Personal Data:

  • Name, Address, Telephone number, Email address, Banking details, Financial income data, Scholarship information, Educational records, School transcripts, References, Language proficiency (TOEFL or IELTS) provided through ETS Non-Personal Data: None identified

The website uses Matomo (formerly Piwik) software. Matomo saves a cookie on the user's device; data collected is analysed under a pseudonym. IP address is anonymised before processing; deleted after 3 months.

User’s application documents deleted after 3 years. Public authorities and offices have access. A connection to YouTube servers is only established when a user engages with embedded YouTube videos.

Payment data transmitted to service providers; may transfer to online payment services, financial institutions, banks, and credit card companies. Accounting-relevant data deleted after 10 years. Certain data may be transmitted to the applicant's country of origin or outside EU/EEA.

Students have limited agency in knowing who tracks their movement. Financial institutions may use data assemblages to measure financial capability and mobility.

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD supports the internationalisation of German universities, promotes German studies and the German language abroad. It is a registered association and its members include German institutions of higher education and their student bodies. DAAD relies on a network of Regional Offices, Information Centres and Information Points with coverage in more than 70 countries, to provide applicants up-to-date information on educational institutions and programs in Germany.

Data Collected

Mapping Data flows and Interactions

  1. The Journey

This stage focuses on the formal migration process,
moving from visa application to arrival in Germany.

Visa Application: The process starts with the visa application system (VIS), which involves biometric identification and document submission. Students also interact with formal systems for obtaining an acceptance letter from a university and their official registration certificate.

Initial Settlement: Upon arrival, students are met with a new set of digital and administrative hurdles. They must open a blocked bank account, obtain a local SIM card, and secure internet connectivity. The map also highlights the role of university and student academies in providing support and information.

  1. Stay/Integration

This final phase represents the student's life in Germany,
with a continued reliance on digital infrastructures.

Digital Systems and Integration: Students continue to engage with systems for digital payment and digital education. These platforms are essential to manage daily life, from paying for services to participating in online classes. These systems, while offering convenience, can also pose challenges related to data privacy and surveillance.

A journey riddled with barriers

Throughout the journey, students face various barriers, such as a lack of reliable information, high costs, and language-related difficulties. Informal digital networks and information bundles are critical for students to successfully navigate the formal bureaucratic and digital systems.


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