Latest news with #MobileFortify
Newsweek
3 hours ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Are ICE Agents Using Facial Recognition Phone App? What We Know
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Immigration agents have been given access to a facial recognition app to identify people in the field, according to leaked emails. The emails, exchanged between Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) staff and contractors, allow officers to instantly compare biometrics like faces and fingerprints against Department of Homeland Security (DHS) databases, according to 404 Media. Newsweek contacted the DHS for comment. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers gather for a briefing before an enforcement operation on January 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Maryland. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers gather for a briefing before an enforcement operation on January 27, 2025, in Silver Spring, Maryland. AP Photo/Alex Brandon Why It Matters The emails say that the biometric tool is best used "to identify unknown subjects in the field," which, along with the contributions from staff at Enforcement and Removal Operations, suggests that it is being used in the Trump administration's attempts to ramp up the removal of migrants without legal status. President Donald Trump vowed to deport millions of undocumented immigrants as part of a hardline mass deportation policy. ICE has been facing intense scrutiny over its conduct, becoming a focal point in the national immigration debate. The White House has maintained that anyone residing in the United States illegally is a "criminal." What To Know In the emails, the app was referred to as "Mobile Fortify" and was recommended for use "in the field" to agents and contractors working with Enforcement and Removal Operations. "The Mobile Fortify App empowers users with real-time biometric identity verification capabilities utilizing contactless fingerprints and facial images captured by the camera on an ICE-issued cell phone without a secondary collection device," one email read. "Officers are reminded that the fingerprint matching is currently the most accurate biometric indicator available in the application." One former ICE agent, who requested anonymity because of concerns about potential repercussions, told Newsweek that ICE has always used such technology, which he said uses non-public databases. "We used [the] EDDIE app, which is fingerprint-based but would generate images," the former agent said. "This technology have been around for 15 or more years. It's just not fingerprints anymore. Photos can now be used. It pulls from our internal databases." The messages also indicated that ICE personnel had been given training in how to use the tool, with specific reference to officers learning how to capture facial images and fingerprints in a "training non-live environment." This is not the first time that the DHS has embraced new technology to crack down on immigration. In November, before the Trump administration entered the White House, AI-powered camera software was rolled out along the southern border, with the aim of spotting human traffickers, drug smugglers and migrants in distress in the gaps between Border Patrol stations. ICE agents have used the EDDIE app, which helps officers quickly fingerprint detainees and access databases in the field. It replaced bulky equipment that once took an hour to process data. Rolled out in 2015, the app allows fingerprints and photos to be taken and uploaded in about 30 seconds. What People Are Saying Attorney Andrew Fels told Newsweek: "We know that ICE and DHS and its various new contractors have a suite of privacy secrecy tools that are evolving and are sophisticated." What Happens Next The DHS has not confirmed how the app is being used. ICE agents continue to follow orders from the Trump administration on detaining and deporting illegal immigrants across the country.
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Politics
- Time of India
Trump channels Xi's China surveillance playbook as ICE deploys facial recognition app to identify people
The Trump administration is extending its surveillance powers within the US quietly, arming Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers with a new mobile app that can scan fingerprints or faces on the street to identify individuals by just pointing a smartphone camera at them, as per a report. US Surveillance on the Streets As per ICE's internal emails obtained by 404 Media revealed that the app, named 'Mobile Fortify', is already being used by ICE for the facial recognition component of the app for people entering or exiting the United States, but now that system is being used inside the US by ICE to identify people in the field, as reported by 404 Media. What Is Mobile Fortify? One of the emails, which was sent to all Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), mentioned that, 'The Mobile Fortify App empowers users with real-time biometric identity verification capabilities utilizing contactless fingerprints and facial images captured by the camera on an ICE issued cell phone without a secondary collection device,' as quoted in the report. According to the 404 Media report, the main purpose of ICE is to use this new tool to identify people whose identity ICE officers do not know. The email pointed out that, 'This information can be used to identify unknown subjects in the field,' adding, 'Officers are reminded that the fingerprint matching is currently the most accurate biometric indicator available in the application,' as quoted in the report. ALSO READ: Palantir Under Siege: Protesters rage over surveillance, ICE links in NYC office blockade Live Events A Digital Way to Deportation The use of the Mobile Fortify app is one of the latest examples of ICE, which comes amid the Trump administration's increasing use of high-end technology for its mass deportation efforts and ICE's enforcement of its arrest quotas of 3,000 arrests per day, as reported by 404 Media. The 404 Media reported, citing an internal ICE data seen by NBC News, which said that the Trump administration has arrested only 6% of known immigrant murderers. While ICE has continued to detain nonviolent, working members of immigrant communities who have lived in the country for decades, especially in Los Angeles, as reported by 404 Media. Civil Liberties Concerns Meanwhile, civil liberties proponents have constantly feared and critiqued the biometric systems, as per the report. The deputy director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, Nathan Freed Wessler, highlighted that, 'Face recognition technology is notoriously unreliable, frequently generating false matches and resulting in a number of known wrongful arrests across the country. Immigration agents relying on this technology to try to identify people on the street is a recipe for disaster. Congress has never authorized DHS to use face recognition technology in this way, and the agency should shut this dangerous experiment down,' as quoted in the report. ALSO READ: California, the world's fourth largest economy, to charge road tax as people go electric, citizens furious FAQs What exactly is Mobile Fortify? It's a mobile app that lets ICE officers use facial recognition and fingerprint scans with just their phone's camera to identify people in real time, as per the 404 Media report. Do ICE officers need extra equipment to use it? No. The app works directly on ICE-issued smartphones, no fingerprint readers or extra devices are needed.
