Fundamental right to data protection in EU immigration, border control and asylum policies: still looking for a balance

The paper focuses on the right to data protection in EU law, in light of its application in immigration, border control and asylum areas. Proclaimed by Article 8 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, such right has been shaped by significant case law of the EU Court of Justice, which exalted its nature of fundamental right and scrutinized it under a strict balancing test with other fundamental interests. In this respect, EU immigration, borders control and asylum policies emerge as a challenging research topic, as their management is based on a massive data processing (through IT super-databases) not yet tested under a fundamental rights’ perspective