Immigration (ICE) uses data brokers for deportation surveillance: Georgetown Law

According to a report from Georgetown Center on Privacy & Technology:

When you think about government surveillance in the United States, you likely think of the National Security Agency or the FBI. You might even think of a powerful police agency, such as the New York Police Department. But unless you or someone you love has been targeted for deportation, you probably don’t immediately think of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 

This report argues that you should. Our two-year investigation, including hundreds of Freedom of Information Act requests and a comprehensive review of ICE’s contracting and procurement records, reveals that ICE now operates as a domestic surveillance agency. Since its founding in 2003, ICE has not only been building its own capacity to use surveillance to carry out deportations but has also played a key role in the federal government’s larger push to amass as much information as possible about all of our lives. By reaching into the digital records of state and local governments and buying databases with billions of data points from private companies, ICE has created a surveillance infrastructure that enables it to pull detailed dossiers on nearly anyone, seemingly at any time.

Read the full report here

News analysis/what this means for you: For anyone concerned about immigration rights or their own family’s immigration status, this is a call to action that data privacy is a key concern and use of mobile devices and social networks is tracked at all times. Besides limiting usage of these devices/areas, if possible you should reach out to your Congressional representative to ensure laws are passed to limit this type of surveillance.