Congressional Democrats Demand Investigation Into Alleged Spying by Homeland Security Using Data From Popular Phone Apps

Democratic lawmakers are clamoring for an investigation into whether agencies within the Department of Homeland Security are spying on individuals using purchased location data available to millions of advertisers.More than 70 senators and congressmen have sent a letter to the department’s inspector general demanding answers over alleged warrantless tracking by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. According to the letter, a previous inspector general report disclosed that ICE previously made illegal data purchases, causing a similar program to shut down in 2023. Homeland Security issued a new no-bid contract to the surveillance company Pen-Link last year. According to 404Media, which obtained an internal department document, the contract includes licenses to its location tracking product, Webloc, which aggregates pings to mobile phones from video games, dating services, and fitness apps, among others, enabling tracking of device movements. “Location data is extremely sensitive, and can reveal someone’s religion, their political views, medical conditions, addictions, and with whom they spend time. It is for that reason that ordinarily, the government must obtain a warrant from a judge in order to demand such data from phone or technology companies,” reads the Democrats’ letter to Inspector General Joseph Cuffari. Senator Ron Wyden, who authored the letter, claims that ICE has stonewalled congressional oversight of its location data purchases. In a statement to The New York Sun on Friday, the Department of Homeland Security denied that it is purchasing illegal information. “ICE only utilizes tools it has legal authority to use. We are not going to disclose law enforcement sensitive intelligence and methods. DHS law enforcement methods abide by the U.S. Constitution including the Fourth Amendment,” the statement reads.The lawmakers’ letter asks the inspector general to investigate whether ICE and other DHS agencies are purchasing illegally obtained location data, alleging that the data brokers are collecting personally identifiable information from consumers without their consent. The letter also asks why Homeland Security does not have policies in place to prevent taxpayer dollars from going to contractors that violate Americans’ privacy and federal law, and questions why Homeland Security has not adopted a policy for the use of commercial location data, as the 2023 investigation recommended. It requests the inspector general to determine whether his office can identify any patterns of abuse from the data use.“Given DHS’ failure to adopt a policy for the use of commercial data, coupled with ICE awarding a no-bid contract to a shady data broker that is likely violating federal law, we urge you to open another investigation into the purchase and use of location data by ICE and other DHS components,” the letter reads.The Electronic Frontier Foundation has long raised concerns about the threat of civil liberties through technology. It says phone users can take steps to protect their location data. The group suggests users disable their phone’s advertising ID, which is unique to every phone. The group also advises reviewing apps’ location permissions and turning them off or limiting them to only when the app is open.

Congressional Democrats Demand Investigation Into Alleged Spying by Homeland Security Using Data From Popular Phone Apps

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