ICE buys surveillance tools for warrantless tracking of mobile phones
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations purchased surveillance software from PenLink that processes location data from hundreds of millions of mobile devices. Privacy advocates warn the tools circumvent warrant requirements and Fourth Amendment protections, and can map visits to sensitive locations such as abortion clinics and churches.
What happened
Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations purchased surveillance tools from PenLink that process billions of daily location signals from hundreds of millions of mobile devices, according to redacted acquisition documents obtained by 404 Media.
The procurement includes PenLink products called Tangles and Webloc, which automatically ingest location data, mobile forensics, financial records, and web intelligence, and offer forensic and predictive analytics to correlate movements with social media.
The purchase reverses ICE's January 2024 pledge to stop purchasing commercial telemetry data, according to 404 Media.
Reported impact
Privacy advocates and policy experts warn the surveillance tools allow ICE to bypass the warrant process and Fourth Amendment privacy protections. Don Bell, policy counsel at the Constitution Project, stated the tools are 'probably unconstitutional' because they enable law enforcement to purchase highly sensitive location data without a warrant.
Demonstrations of similar tools have shown how these datasets can map visits to abortion clinics, churches, and other sensitive sites, raising concerns over potential breaches of civil liberties.
Index analysis
A September 2023 inspector general report found that U.S. Customs & Border Protection, ICE, and the Secret Service 'did not adhere to privacy policies' or build adequate rules before buying and using location feeds, and cited an instance where a DHS official tracked co-workers.
Senator Ron Wyden noted that the Biden Administration shut down DHS's location data purchases after the inspector general found DHS had broken the law, and expressed concern that the Trump administration is again buying and using location data without a warrant.
Governance controls
The inspector general report urged DHS to halt purchases until safeguards were in place, but ICE defended its continued use at that time because the data 'produces investigative leads,' according to 404 Media.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.