In recent years, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been quietly ramping up its surveillance capabilities with a range of cutting-edge technology that rivals what you’d find in Silicon Valley’s labs. With new funding and expanded mandates, ICE has taken full advantage of a toolkit that includes everything from facial recognition systems and drones to mobile phone tracking and digital forensics. While these technologies are commonly associated with consumer devices, their use by federal law enforcement raises a host of new questions about privacy and surveillance.
Here’s a breakdown of the most powerful tools ICE is using, and how these systems mirror the tech innovations consumers are already familiar with.
1. Biometric Identification: The New Face of Enforcement
Facial Recognition Systems
Facial recognition technology has been around for years in consumer tech, but it’s now finding its way into law enforcement. ICE uses a range of systems to help identify individuals in the field, starting with NEC’s Mobile Fortify app. This app allows ICE officers to scan faces and fingerprints on the go and instantly match them against government databases. In many ways, this system works like the face-unlocking features on your phone, but instead of just unlocking your device, it’s matching faces to a far-reaching government database of personal information.
Another biometric tool in use is BI2 Technologies’ Iris Scanning App, which takes iris scans from as close as 15 inches. The app provides instant identification, and while it might sound like something out of science fiction, it’s very much in use today for security and enforcement purposes.
In addition to these on-the-ground apps, ICE also uses Clearview AI, a controversial facial recognition tool that mines publicly available images to build an extensive database. This tool allows ICE to find potential matches to suspects by simply scanning photos online. It’s like Google’s reverse image search, but on a massive scale with privacy concerns attached.
What It Means for You:
Facial recognition systems, even when employed for good reasons, carry serious privacy concerns. With companies like Clearview AI scraping public images for use in criminal investigations, it’s easy to see how the line between security and privacy can quickly blur.
2. Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)
License plate readers (ALPRs) are nothing new on the roads, especially in urban areas. These high-speed cameras capture license plates and use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to convert them into machine-readable data. ICE has access to over 20 billion scans through databases like the one from Thomson Reuters, which include not only government data but also private video feeds.
This technology allows ICE to track vehicles across cities, providing real-time insight into where cars are going, how often they visit specific locations, and whether they are tied to particular individuals. It’s like a hyper-efficient version of the car tracking that happens when you order food through a delivery app, but with far broader implications.
What It Means for You:
Automated license plate readers turn routine driving into stored location data, logging where your car goes, how often it appears, and when. Even if you’ve done nothing wrong, those records can be retained, shared, or analyzed later as enforcement priorities change. The concern isn’t a single scan, but the long-term tracking created without your awareness or consent.
3. Cellphone Location Tracking
Next on ICE’s list of surveillance tools are cell-site simulators, commonly known as Stingrays. These devices trick mobile phones into connecting to fake cell towers, allowing ICE to track a phone’s location in real-time. If this sounds like something out of a spy movie, that’s because it is. Stingrays mimic real cell towers, intercepting data to determine where phones are located, even without knowing the phone’s number.
Additionally, ICE has access to location tracking databases, such as Penlink’s Webloc, which allows them to track the movements of all phones within a specific area. By “geofencing” a zone, they can see all the phones that enter and leave, a tool that makes tracking movements incredibly easy.
What It Means for You:
While most of us are used to location tracking through our phones — whether it’s Google Maps or social media apps — this kind of surveillance is on another level. By tapping into vast commercial and government databases, ICE can not only track individuals but also map out entire networks of movement over time.
4. Digital Forensics: Hacking Phones and Devices
Phone Hacking and Data Extraction Tools
What if you could bypass a locked phone or recover deleted messages from someone else’s device? This is exactly what Paragon Solutions, Cellebrite, and Finaldata allow ICE to do. These companies specialize in digital forensics tools that let agents access locked phones, recover deleted files, and even read encrypted communications.
Cellebrite’s forensic tools are particularly noteworthy, as they can extract not only visible data but also hidden files, app caches, and other digital traces that most users think are erased for good. In simpler terms, it’s like when you download a recovery tool on your computer, but far more powerful and invasive.
What It Means for You:
It’s no secret that phone data can be a goldmine for personal information. The shift towards law enforcement gaining access to locked devices, even when it’s not related to a crime as serious as terrorism, raises some tough questions about the limits of personal privacy in the digital age.
5. Drones and Aerial Surveillance
Compact Tactical Drones
Drones are not just for capturing scenic shots of the countryside — they’ve quickly become a staple for law enforcement surveillance. ICE uses drones like the Skydio X10D, which can detect individuals from up to 7.5 miles away and identify them from 0.8 miles out. Equipped with night vision and thermal cameras, these drones can gather high-quality data in real-time, even in low-light conditions.
Larger MQ-9 Predator Drones
While ICE itself does not fly the massive MQ-9 Predator drones, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has deployed them for surveillance over areas tied to ICE operations. These drones can fly for hours, providing high-definition footage of wide areas, and have infrared sensors that make it possible to monitor activity in all weather conditions.
What It Means for You:
Drones are no longer just the toys of hobbyists — they’re being used in real-world applications, like border control and protest monitoring, that could have implications for civil liberties. Drones equipped with thermal imaging can easily track people without them knowing it, and while they have great potential for surveillance, they also raise significant privacy issues.
