American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century

"American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century." Center on Privacy & Technology, Georgetown Law. 10 May 2022.[1]

"The ICE surveillance dragnet operates largely without oversight, and a new report details how Americans are tracked through utility bills, facial recognition and even their cars."

From 1. Executive Summary

When you think about government surveillance in the United States, you likely think of the National Security Agency [NSA] or the FBI [US Federal Bureau of Investigation]. 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 [...] reveals that ICE now operates as a domestic surveillance agency.

There's a paywall, but nicely summarized here: [2] Pérez Pintado, Amanda. "Beyond immigration: ICE's massive surveillance system has info on most Americans, report says." USA Today 12 May 2022. Published in, among other places, The Ventura County Star, 16 May 2022: 5A.

• ICE possesses driver's license information on 3 out of 4 adults living in the U.S.
•At least one-third of all driver's licenses have been scanned by the agency with face recognition technology.
• ICE can locate 3 in 4 adults through their utility records.
• The agency tracks the movements of cars in cities that are home to nearly 3 in 4 adults.

See for background for themes of surveillance, data mining, and perhaps AI.

RDE, 23May22