ICE Wants to Build Out a 24/7 Social Media Surveillance Team
a day ago
- #privacy
- #immigration
- #surveillance
- US immigration authorities plan to expand social media surveillance by hiring nearly 30 contractors to monitor platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.
- The surveillance program will operate from ICE targeting centers in Vermont and Southern California, focusing on generating leads for deportation raids and arrests.
- Contractors will use commercial databases like LexisNexis Accurint and Thomson Reuters CLEAR to compile personal details and open-source intelligence from social media.
- ICE aims for strict turnaround times, with urgent cases requiring research within 30 minutes and high-priority cases within an hour.
- The agency seeks to integrate artificial intelligence into surveillance and has allocated over $1 million annually for advanced tools.
- ICE's past surveillance contracts include tools like ShadowDragon’s SocialNet, Babel Street’s Locate X, and Clearview AI’s facial recognition technology.
- Privacy advocates warn that ICE’s surveillance methods could overreach, targeting not just individuals but also their friends, family, and communities.
- ICE defends the program as necessary for modernizing enforcement, claiming traditional methods have had limited success without social media data.