President Donald Trump made countering immigration one in every of his flagship points throughout final yr’s presidential marketing campaign, promising an unprecedented variety of deportations.
In his first eight months in workplace, that promise became round 350,000 deportations, a determine that features deportations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE (round 200,000), Customs and Border Safety (greater than 132,000), and virtually 18,000 self-deportations, in keeping with CNN.
ICE has taken heart stage in Trump’s mass deportation marketing campaign, raiding properties, workplaces, and public parks in quest of undocumented immigrants. To help its efforts, ICE has at its disposal a number of applied sciences able to figuring out and surveilling people and communities.
Here’s a recap of among the know-how that ICE has in its digital arsenal.
Cell-site Simulators Gadgets
ICE has a know-how often called cell-site simulators to listen in on cellphones. These surveillance units, because the title suggests, are designed to look as a cellphone tower, tricking close by telephones to connect with them. As soon as that occurs, the regulation enforcement authorities who’re utilizing the cell-site simulators can find and determine the telephones of their neighborhood, and probably intercept calls, textual content messages, and web site visitors.
Cell-site simulators are also referred to as “stingrays,” primarily based on the model title of one of many earliest variations of the know-how, which was made by U.S. protection contractor Harris (now L3Harris); or IMSI catchers, a know-how that may seize a close-by cellphone’s distinctive identifier which regulation enforcement can use for figuring out the telephone’s proprietor.
Within the final two years, ICE has signed contracts for greater than $1.5 million with an organization referred to as TechOps Specialty Autos (TOSV), which produces personalized vans for regulation enforcement.
A contract value greater than $800,000 dated Might 8, 2025 mentioned TOSV will present “Cell Web site Simulator (CSS) Autos to assist the Homeland Safety Technical Operations program.”
TOSV president Jon Brianas advised information.killnetswitch that the corporate doesn’t manufacture the cell-site simulators, however slightly integrates “into our general design of the automobile.”
Cell-site simulators have lengthy been controversial for a number of causes.
These units are designed to trick all close by telephones to connect with them, which signifies that by design they collect the info of many harmless folks. Additionally, authorities have typically deployed them with out first acquiring a warrant.
Authorities have additionally tried to maintain their use of the know-how secret in courtroom, withholding info, and even accepting plea offers and dropping instances slightly than disclose details about their use of cell-site simulators. In a courtroom case in 2019 in Baltimore, it was revealed that prosecutors have been instructed to drop instances slightly than violate a non-disclosure settlement with the corporate that makes the units.
Clearview AI facial recognition
Clearview AI is maybe essentially the most well-known facial-recognition firm at this time. For years, the corporate promised to have the ability to determine any face by looking by way of a big database of photographs it had scraped from the web.
On Monday, 404 Media reported that ICE has signed a contract with the corporate to assist its regulation enforcement arm Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI), “with capabilities of figuring out victims and offenders in baby sexual exploitation instances and assaults in opposition to regulation enforcement officers.”
In line with a authorities procurement database, the contract signed final week is value $3.75 million.
ICE has had different contracts with Clearview AI within the final couple of years. In September 2024, the company bought “forensic software program” from the corporate, a deal value $1.1 million. The yr earlier than, ICE paid Clearview AI practically $800,000 for “facial recognition enterprise licenses.”
Clearview AI didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Paragon telephone adware
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In September 2024, ICE signed a contract value $2 million with Israeli adware maker Paragon Options. Nearly instantly, the Biden administration issued a “cease work order,” placing the contract underneath overview to verify it complied with an govt order on the federal government’s use of economic adware.
Due to that order, for practically a yr, the contract remained in limbo. Then, final week, the Trump administration lifted the cease work order, successfully reactivating the contract.
At this level, the standing of Paragon’s relationship with ICE in apply is unclear.
The information entry from final week mentioned that the contract with Paragon is for “a completely configured proprietary answer together with license, {hardware}, guarantee, upkeep, and coaching.” Virtually talking, until the {hardware} set up and coaching have been achieved final yr, it could take a while for ICE to have Paragon’s system up and operating.
It’s additionally unclear if the adware will likely be utilized by ICE or HSI, an company whose investigations should not restricted to immigration, but in addition cowl on-line baby sexual exploitation, human trafficking, monetary fraud, and extra.
Paragon has lengthy tried to painting itself as an “moral” and accountable adware maker, and now has to determine if it’s moral to work with Trump’s ICE. Rather a lot has occurred to Paragon within the final yr. In December, American non-public fairness large AE Industrial bought Paragon, with a plan to merge it with cybersecurity firm RedLattice, in keeping with Israeli tech information web site Calcalist.
In an indication that the merger could have taken place, when information.killnetswitch reached out to Paragon for touch upon the reactivation of the ICE contract final week, we have been referred to RedLattice’s new vp of promoting and communications Jennifer Iras.
RedLattice’s Iras didn’t reply to a request for remark for this text, nor for final week’s article.
In the previous couple of months, Paragon has been ensnared in a adware scandal in Italy, the place the federal government has been accused of spying on journalists and immigration activists. In response, Paragon reduce ties with Italy’s intelligence companies.
Telephone hacking and unlocking know-how
In mid-September, ICE’s regulation enforcement arm Homeland Safety Investigations signed a contract with Magnet Forensics for $3 million.
This contract is particularly for software program licenses in order that HSI brokers can “get better digital proof, course of a number of units,” and “generate forensic stories,” in keeping with the contract description.
Magnet is the present maker of the telephone hacking and unlocking units often called Graykey. These units primarily give regulation enforcement brokers the flexibility to attach a locked telephone to them and unlock them and entry the info within them.
Magnet Forensics, which merged with Graykey makers Grayshift in 2023, didn’t reply to a request for remark.
Cellphone Location Data
On the finish of September, 404 Media reported that ICE purchased entry to “an “all-in-one” surveillance software that enables the company to look by way of databases of historic cellphone location knowledge, in addition to social media info.
The software seems to be made from two merchandise referred to as Tangles and Webloc, that are made by an organization referred to as Penlink. One of many instruments guarantees to leverage “a proprietary knowledge platform to compile, course of, and validate billions of each day location indicators from lots of of hundreds of thousands of cell units, offering each forensic and predictive analytics,” in keeping with a redacted contract discovered by 404 Media.
The redacted contract doesn’t determine which one of many instruments makes that promise, however given its description, it’s probably Webloc. Forbes beforehand cited a case examine that mentioned Webloc can search a given location to “monitor developments of cell units which have given knowledge at these places and the way usually they’ve been there.”
This sort of cellphone location knowledge is harvested by firms world wide utilizing software program improvement kits (SDKs) embedded in common smartphone apps, or with a web based promoting course of referred to as real-time bidding (RTB) the place firms bid in real-time to put an advert on the display of a cellphone consumer primarily based on their demographic or location knowledge. The latter course of has the by-product of giving advert tech firms that form of private knowledge.
As soon as collected, this mass of location knowledge is transferred to an information dealer who then sells it to authorities companies. Because of this layered course of, authorities have used such a knowledge with out getting a warrant by merely buying entry to the info.
The opposite software, Tangles, is an “AI-powered open-source intelligence” software that automates “the search and evaluation of knowledge from the open, deep, and the darkish net,” in keeping with Penlink’s official web site.
Forbes reported in September that ICE spent $5 million on Penlink’s two instruments.
Penlink didn’t reply to a request for remark.
LexisNexis’ authorized and public information databases
For years, ICE has used the authorized analysis and public information knowledge dealer LexisNexis to assist its investigations.
In 2022, two non-profits obtained paperwork through Freedom of Data Act requests, which revealed that ICE carried out greater than 1.2 million searches over seven months utilizing a software referred to as Accurint Digital Crime Heart. ICE used the software to test the background info of migrants.
A yr later, The Intercept revealed that ICE was utilizing LexisNexis to detect suspicious exercise and examine migrants earlier than they even dedicated a crime, a program {that a} critic mentioned enabled “mass surveillance.”
In line with public information, LexisNexis at the moment supplies ICE “with a regulation enforcement investigative database subscription (LEIDS) which permits entry to public information and business knowledge to assist legal investigations.”
This yr, ICE has paid $4.7 million to subscribe to the service.
LexisNexis spokesperson Jennifer Richman advised information.killnetswitch that ICE has used the corporate’s product “knowledge and analytics options for many years, throughout a number of administrations.”
“Our dedication is to assist the accountable and moral use of knowledge, in full compliance with legal guidelines and rules, and for the safety of all residents of america,” mentioned Richman, who added that LexisNexis “companions with greater than 7,500 federal, state, native, tribal, and territorial companies throughout america to advance public security and security.”
Surveillance large Palantir
Data analytics and surveillance know-how large Palantir has signed a number of contracts with ICE within the final yr. The most important contract, value $18.5 million from September 2024, is for a database system referred to as “Investigative Case Administration,” or ICM.
The contract for ICM goes again to 2022, when Palantir signed a $95.9 million cope with ICE. The Peter Thiel-founded firm’s relationship with ICE dates again to the early 2010s.
Earlier this yr, 404 Media, which has reported extensively on the know-how powering Trump’s deportation efforts, and significantly Palantir’s relationship with ICE, revealed particulars of how the ICM database works. The tech information web site reported that it noticed a current model of the database, which permits ICE to filter folks primarily based on their immigration standing, bodily traits, legal affiliation, location knowledge, and extra.
In line with 404 Media, “a supply accustomed to the database” mentioned it’s made up of ‘tables upon tables’ of knowledge and that it may possibly construct stories that present, for instance, people who find themselves on a selected kind of visa who got here into the nation at a selected port of entry, who got here from a selected nation, and who’ve a selected hair coloration (or any variety of lots of of knowledge factors).”
The software, and Palantir’s relationship with ICE, was controversial sufficient that sources inside the firm leaked to 404 Media an inside wiki the place Palantir justifies working with Trump’s ICE.
Palantir can also be creating a software referred to as “ImmigrationOS,” in keeping with a contract value $30 million revealed by Enterprise Insider.
ImmigrationOS is alleged to be designed to streamline the “choice and apprehension operations of unlawful aliens,” give “close to real-time visibility” into self-deportations, and observe folks overstaying their visa, in keeping with a doc first reported on by Wired.
First printed on September 13 and up to date on September 18 to incorporate Magnet Forensics’ new contract, and once more on October 8 to incorporate cell-site simulators and site knowledge.
