You Opened a Credit Card. ICE Now Knows Where You Live
4 hours ago
- Credit card companies share users' address information with credit bureaus like Equifax and Experian, which then sell it to data brokers.
- Thomson Reuters incorporates this 'credit header data' into its CLEAR investigative tool and sells access to ICE without a warrant.
- ICE uses CLEAR data for immigration enforcement and voter fraud investigations, and can query it without judicial oversight.
- The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) attempted to regulate this data sale but was gutted by the Trump administration.
- Data accuracy issues in CLEAR can lead ICE to target the wrong addresses, according to a Thomson Reuters employee.
- Senator Ron Wyden and advocates criticize the loophole, calling it a violation of privacy that disproportionately harms overpoliced communities.