ICE Is Going on a Surveillance Shopping Spree
4 months ago
- #privacy
- #immigration
- #surveillance
- ICE's budget for 2025 is $28.7 billion, nearly triple its 2024 budget, with an additional $56.25 billion over the next three years.
- ICE's budget would rank it as the 14th most well-funded military globally, between Ukraine and Israel.
- ICE targets not only undocumented immigrants but also work permit holders, asylum seekers, permanent residents, naturalized citizens, and even birthright citizens.
- A 2022 report revealed ICE's extensive surveillance capabilities, including scanning driver's license photos of 1 in 3 adults and tracking movements of 3 in 4 adults.
- ICE spent $2.8 billion from 2008 to 2021 on surveillance and data collection programs.
- ICE plans to expand its surveillance operations, including partnerships with local law enforcement and social media monitoring.
- ICE has contracts with companies like Cellebrite and Paragon for phone surveillance tools, enabling access to encrypted messages and phone data.
- ICE uses tools like Webloc and Tangles for location and social media surveillance, building dossiers on individuals without warrants.
- ICE invests in biometric surveillance, including face recognition software like Mobile Fortify and Clearview AI, and iris scanning technology.
- ICE employs cell-site simulators (Stingrays) to track individuals in real-time, with over 1,885 deployments between 2013 and 2017.
- Palantir's ImmigrationOS system integrates data from various sources, breaking civil liberties firewalls between IRS, immigration, and social media data.
- EFF is fighting back against ICE through lawsuits, including cases over social media surveillance and data sharing with other agencies.
- Protection measures include keeping phones updated, using strong passwords, turning off phones during protests, and making social media accounts private.
- Public advocacy, such as demanding city councils cancel ALPR contracts, can help reduce surveillance risks.