ICE Expands Surveillance Capabilities
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency is embarking on significant upgrades to its surveillance arsenal, aimed at the identification and monitoring of individuals.
These advancements encompass applications that enable federal officers to employ smartphones for facial recognition, thereby potentially determining a person’s immigration status directly in the field.
In addition, another application designed to scan irises has been integrated into their toolkit. Newly licensed software purportedly grants unprecedented access to extensive location-based information, as noted in an archive from the software developer’s website.
These developments coincide with ICE’s recent revival of a previously halted contract with a spyware company capable of penetrating mobile devices.
Moreover, the agency is intensifying its scrutiny of social media platforms through advanced surveillance technologies, including new AI-driven software contracts.
Plans are also underway to establish 24/7 contractor teams dedicated to combing various databases and social media channels, such as Facebook and TikTok, to compile detailed dossiers on users.
Amidst these initiatives, the Trump administration aims to leverage modern technology as it endeavors to escalate deportations to a million annually, a goal that could be facilitated through these sophisticated means of locating noncitizens liable for removal.
Legal Concerns Raised by Lawmakers
Concerns regarding the legality of these innovations have been voiced by several Democratic members of Congress. They have submitted inquiries to ICE that remain unanswered, with a collective of U.S. senators urging the cessation of the mobile facial recognition application.
“Americans deserve the right to traverse public areas devoid of surveillance,” remarked Democratic Senator Edward Markey from Massachusetts.
Privacy advocates and civil liberties organizations caution that these surveillance mechanisms pose a serious risk. They argue that an insufficient regulatory framework and a lack of oversight render the use of emerging technologies potentially harmful to civil rights and privacy.
“The expansion of immigration powers justifies widespread surveillance over all individuals,” stated Emily Tucker, executive director of the Center on Privacy and Technology at Georgetown Law.
She characterized the objective as the creation of a comprehensive surveillance infrastructure capable of being repurposed for various forms of law enforcement.
Incident Involving Facial Recognition Technology
Instances of ICE and Border Patrol utilizing these technologies were highlighted by a video recently shared on TikTok. The clip depicts masked Border Patrol agents emerging from a vehicle and accosting two young individuals biking near East Aurora High School, inquiring about their citizenship and demanding identification.
One young man, who remained off-camera, claimed to be 16 and asserted his U.S. citizenship, albeit without an ID. An officer can be heard asking, “Can you do a facial?” before another agent retrieves a smartphone to potentially capture a photo. The video concludes as the officer inquires about the young man’s name.
While the app used by the officer remains unidentified, ICE has developed a mobile facial recognition application named Mobile Fortify.
According to a Department of Homeland Security document, this application identifies individuals by searching against Customs and Border Protection databases, including photographs taken during entry and exit from the U.S.
The same document states that ICE would only receive “limited biographic data” if a match is found on a specific target list dubbed the “Fortify the Border Hotlist.”
Importantly, individuals lack the option to refuse to be photographed, with images retained for a duration of 15 years even in instances where no match occurs.
Facial Recognition Technology in Law Enforcement
Furthermore, a different facial recognition application called Mobile Identify has recently been made accessible via Google’s app store for state and local law enforcement agencies authorized to collaborate with ICE.
The prominent libertarian think tank, Cato Institute, described the current capabilities as a “significant leap,” emphasizing that federal agents can now simply direct a smartphone at an individual’s face to promptly access personal details.
This rapid identification capability fundamentally undermines public anonymity, as the government can swiftly discern individuals in public spaces. Concerns persist that this might discourage citizens from participating in public demonstrations.
Senator Markey, leading a group of Democratic senators, has reiterated requests for ICE to cease the utilization of this technology, although the agency has yet to respond to these inquiries.
Markey articulated that this form of immediate surveillance is alarming, warning that it stifles free expression and compromises privacy, thereby threatening democratic principles.
The senators’ correspondence raises critical questions about the legal justification for the app’s use, its development, and whether U.S. citizens’ images are included in the matching database. They also seek clarity on the app’s potential application in identifying minors and individuals involved in protests.
Concerns Over New Spyware Contracts
In August, the Trump administration reinstated a previously paused contract with Paragon Solutions, an Israeli-founded entity specializing in spyware.
Notably, a tool named Graphite from Paragon has been implicated in surveillance operations targeting journalists and activists in Europe, as reported by The Citizen Lab.
Details surrounding ICE’s application of Paragon’s technology remain obscure, with recent legal actions taken to procure records about its use. ICE has not disclosed information regarding whether it intends to utilize Graphite or other tools developed by the company.
Graphite possesses the capability to initiate monitoring of a mobile device—encompassing encrypted communications—simply by dispatching a message to the target’s number, requiring no interaction from the user.
“It provides exhaustive access to your device,” cautioned Jeramie Scott, senior counsel at the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
“This represents a profoundly concerning technological intrusion that contravenes our Fourth Amendment rights.”
Strengthening Surveillance Architecture
The Department of Homeland Security has continuously bolstered its surveillance apparatus since its establishment in the aftermath of 9/11, across both Republican and Democratic administrations.
A 2022 report by Georgetown Law’s Center on Privacy and Technology revealed that ICE could potentially locate three out of four U.S. adults through utility records and had accessed a third of adult Americans’ driver’s license photographs.
The scenario, however, has escalated under the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration enforcement strategies, as communicated by Tucker.
She noted a significant departure from the longstanding norms observed by prior administrations regarding surveillance.
“Current legal frameworks and protections for rights are extremely porous, and the present administration exhibits a readiness to transgress any existing laws,” Tucker commented.
Source link: Laist.com.
