Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine formally asked the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to investigate and provide details on many of the surveillance technologies being used by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to a copy of the letter shared with 404 Media.The letter touches on many of the surveillance technologies and companies that 404 Media has been writing about in recent months, including Flock license plate readers, Penlink social media and location data monitoring, Clearview AI\u2019s facial recognition tech, Paragon Solutions\u2019 phone hacking technology, as well as other social media scanning and biometric collection databases used by DHS in Donald Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown.\u201cWe are deeply concerned that ICE\u2019s surge in brutality against American communities is being facilitated by the inappropriate and unsupervised use of surveillance technology,\u201d the senators wrote. \u201cAs such, we formally request an investigation by your office into the methods that DHS uses to collect, retain, analyze, and use data about the communities where it operates in conjunction with the companies mentioned above, and any companies DHS is seeking to conduct business with\u2013for similar purposes\u2014in the future.\u201dThe letter then demands that Joseph Cuffari, the Inspector General for DHS, provide information about how DHS obtains, processes, and stores people\u2019s sensitive data, whether it keeps track of false positive and incorrect identities returned with its biometric surveillance tools, whether it keeps track of times its surveillance tools are used against U.S. citizens, how it shares information with private companies, and how it obtains information from other federal agencies. It also seeks information about DHS\u2019s relationships with data brokers, whether it allows people to opt out of surveillance, and any privacy protections around some of the data it obtains.\u00a0<\/p>\n
While the letter itself seems unlikely to change anything about how ICE is operating in the field, these types of information gathering exercises from lawmakers often result in new details about the inner workings of surveillance programs and tools and can eventually lead to reform.\u00a0\u201cIn addition to egregious practices we have seen in public reporting, it\u2019s important that your office shine light on activities that undergird ICE\u2019s enforcement actions including a muddled patchwork of technology procurements that have significantly expanded DHS\u2019 ability to collect, retain, and analyze information about Americans,\u201d they wrote. \u201cTogether, ICE\u2019s new information collection tools potentially enable DHS to circumvent the constitutional protections provided by the Fourth Amendment\u2014protections guaranteed to all Americans and all persons within our borders.\u201dThe Trump administration has sought to undercut inspectors general across the federal government; soon after he was inaugurated, Trump fired at least 17 inspectors general. Cuffari, who was appointed during Trump\u2019s first term and served under Joe Biden as well, was one of the few inspectors general who was left in his post. In 2024, an independent panel found that Cuffari had violated ethics rules during this confirmation process and recommended that he be replaced, but Biden left him in his role. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"