international human rights law.450 Significantly, in migration contexts, children’s personal data, in particular biometric data, should be used only for the purposes of identifying and protecting the child and ensuring the child’s best interests.451 As discussed earlier, the right to freedom of movement, in turn, also impacts the enjoyment of other rights. 218. Monitoring of the child because of an allegation against the parents may be argued to be necessary for the legitimate aim of protecting public security. However, given the significant implications on the best interests of the child and non-discrimination principle, among others, it is clear that such measures on the basis of the allegation against the parents alone 450 The prohibition is on the basis that such mass expulsions deny individual migrants with the reasonable and objective examination of and decision on each person’s individual case, rendering collective expulsions as inherently arbitrary and therefore prohibited. International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (1990), art. 22(1); Committee on Migrant Workers, general comment No. 2 (2013) on the rights of migrant workers in an irregular situation and members of their families, para. 51; Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, para.47; Human Rights Committee, General Comment No. 15 (1986) on the position of aliens under the Covenant, para.10; Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, general recommendation no. 30 (2003) on discrimination against non-citizens, para. 26; A/ HRC/36/39/Add.2, paras. 33, 60; A/72/335, para. 93; A/HRC/37/50, para.4. Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, para. 17; see also UNOCT and CTED, United Nations Compendium of Recommended Practices for the Responsible Use and Sharing of Biometrics in Counter Terrorism (2018), 31-32. 451 Joint general comment No. 3 (2017) of the Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families No. 22 (2017) of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, para. 17; see also UNOCT and CTED, United Nations Compendium of Recommended Practices for the Responsible Use and Sharing of Biometrics in Counter Terrorism (2018), 31-32. 98. would not be considerered proportionate to the aim or the least intrusive option. To monitor the child on security grounds 219. The principle of the best interests of the child must govern a State’s decision to collect, use and share information about a child, including what data is collected, how it is used, and the length of time the data is retained. The principle also applies when security services are concerned that a child may pose security threat. As discussed in section 1.2.2 on the best interests of the child principle above, there may be situations in which the best interests of the child and those of others, including the public, may be potentially in conflict. States may determine a child to be a security threat, including due to past actions taken while with a terrorist designated group, although children should not be deemed a security threat on the basis of association with such a group alone. 220. In general, the association of any individual with a watch list or database of known or suspected terrorists will likely have a very negative impact on his or her life, with legal, social and reputational consequences for the individual and his or her family, particularly in the case of potential data leakage.452 Placing a child on a watch list or database of suspected terrorists may carry additional serious ramifications for a child’s future and could be especially damaging if effective independent oversight of the entire watch list or database is not provided, with particular attention paid to data-management functions and the purposes for which the data will be used and to avoid any unauthorized extension of scope or access. 452 A/HRC/14/46, para. 37; International Commission of Jurists, Addressing Damage, Urging Action. Report of the Eminent Jurists Panel on Terrorism, Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights (2009), available at www.refworld.org/ docid/499e76822.html.

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