Refugees take Germany to court over mobile phone data checks

A man wearing a face mask during a protest demanding to take refugees from camps affected by the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak, in front of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany. — Reuters

AMSTERDAM: Three refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Cameroon are suing the German state for accessing personal data on their mobile phones, arguing it was an unnecessary invasion of privacy, their lawyer said on May 5.

German authorities can examine the mobile phones of asylum seekers who do not have valid identity documents under a law passed in 2017 at the height of the migrant crisis in Europe to prevent asylum fraud.