Research Consultant - Migration

Background

Privacy International (PI) has been investigating and exposing the use of data and technology in the migration context, and we aim to build the knowledge and expertise of organisations and groups which advocate for the rights of migrants to have a clear holistic picture of the threats and risks they face along their journeys.

To this end, PI aims to conduct a comprehensive analysis to understand the various legal avenues available to challenge the use of technology against people on the move around the globe

Purpose of the Consultancy

The objective of this consultancy is to support PI in developing a legal briefing aimed at caseworkers, lawyers, and rights advocates who seek to understand various legal avenues to research and challenge technology used on people on the move. The briefing will serve as a collection of resources including legislation, judicial findings, and authoritative statements from domestic and international bodies which support remedy and redress for human rights violations. The briefing will be organised around four sections: 1) international human rights law, 2) decisions of international data protection authorities, 3) domestic legal frameworks, and 4) legal frameworks for specific technologies. The consultancy will focus on researching and presenting a note only on two of these sections - Section 1, International Human Rights Law, and Section 2, relevant decisions of data protection authorities - with PI carrying out the rest of the work. As such, this role is aimed at a researcher with a legal background in international human rights law and data protection standards.

Requirements

The consultant undertaking this project must

• possess a comprehensive understanding of international human rights law, particularly in relation to migrants;
• be familiar with leading decisions of data protection authorities around the world, and in particular those of European data protection authorities;
• have experience drafting legal briefings;
• ensure that only clearly lawful methods of research are used;
• provide documentation and/or references to support the analyses which can be verified by PI, and;
• ensure that any information obtained from fee-based online databases is done so in line with the database’s terms of service.

Specific task to be performed by the consultant

Legal research and analysis of the legislation, judicial decisions, and authoritative statements which can be used to protect the rights of migrants on the move against unlawful uses of technology. The scope of work will be limited to:

A. International Human Rights Law, and authoritative statements from international or regional human rights bodies, UN Special Procedures, etc.
B. Decisions of Data Protection Authorities around the globe

Outputs, timelines, and remuneration

Deadline for applications: EOD 30 May 2025

PI will aim to respond by EOD 9 June at the latest.

This legal research and analysis should be delivered by 1 September (at the latest) as per a schedule of deliverables to be agreed between PI and the selected consultant. All the data and evidence mentioned in the memos should be free to publicly use without constraints.

The budget for this consultancy is £7,000.00.

Please send your CV and a cover letter explaining how your experience is relevant to the role to [email protected] by 11:59 BST 30th May 2025. We will schedule interviews as part of the process. For information about how Privacy International will use your data during recruitment please see our policy.