The practice did not comply with DHS policy.
A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) confirmed this week that the agency has stopped using private phone data purchased from data sales companies. Officials had used this method of identifying individual cell phone users and their locations as recently as September 2023. The agency stopped doing so after the Department of Homeland Security released a report documenting this lack of compliance with department policy.
The ICE spokesperson said, “Like other law enforcement agencies, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) employs various forms of technology to investigate violations of the law, while appropriately respecting civil liberties and privacy interests.”
As cybersecurity concerns increase, federal legislators have recently held bipartisan discussions about there being no policies in place to prevent federal law enforcement agencies from accessing citizens’ private data without a warrant.
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Acting Director Patrick Lechleitner as he oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
- For Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and DHS officials to enforce and follow U.S. laws regarding border security and immigration.
Sources: FedScoop, CyberScoop
