PhD project
Part of the Leibniz-Verbundvorhaben „Digital Inequalities“

This project explores the introduction of computers and databases in government agencies in West Germany and Western Europe from the late 1960s to the early 21st century. The project focuses on the interplay of technological advances, societal and political discourses, and their impact on data protection policies and surveillance strategies. Within this investigation, the study centralizes the computerization of West German security agencies, ministries, companies, and organizations from the late 1960s in the shadow of the Cold War and growing tension on the  German-German Border. The gradual but pervasive use of computer technology by the West German State in the 1970s proved to be a useful starting point for exploring the interplay between technological advancement and societal and political discourses. 

The study examines how computers and databases were integrated into the West German police and intelligence agencies to build up a digital border in addition to existing physical border regimes. The project's scope is to understand the socio-political context that shaped the design of databases like the Central Register of Foreigners (Ausländerzentralregister AZR) in West Germany and beyond, influencing the structure of European migration regimes. By following the flow of data on migrants and foreigners between countries, this study also explores the computerization in France and the UK to understand the prehistory that eventually led to European migration databases, including Eurodac, the Schengen Information System (SIS II), and the visa information system (VIS).

In short, this research aims to unravel the intricate relationship between technological advancements and socio-political discourses that created digital borders and later smart borders with constant information flow between government agencies and border checkpoints in West Germany and Western Europe, providing new insights into this transformative period in German and European history.