“This is probably unconstitutional,” Bell told The Independent. “Usually, if law enforcement wants to take your phone, and is interested in getting your location data, they would need a warrant, but because the law has not kept up with technology, there is this loophole that effectively has allowed law enforcement to purchase location data, which is highly sensitive, without getting a warrant first.”
In a redacted acquisition document obtained by the tech news site 404 Media, the immigration agency proposes entering into a contract to buy “all-in-one” tools from a company called PenLink that will allow agents to “compile, process, and validate billions of daily location signals from hundreds of millions of mobile devices.” The document also mentions payments for services involving “face detection,” “advanced face search,” and a “dark web data feed.”
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That momentum has reversed under the second Trump administration, which has pushed to obtain vast new surveillance powers as part of its overall mass deportation campaign and infusion of unprecedented funding into federal immigration enforcement.
The Trump administration has reportedly restarted a $2 million contract with Paragon Solutions (US) Inc., a spyware company founded in Israel whose products have been accused of facilitating the surveillance of journalists and activists. The deal had previously been frozen to review whether it complied with a March 2023 Biden administration executive order limiting the use of commercial spyware that could pose counterintelligence risks to the U.S. or that might be improperly used by a foreign government, WIRED reported.
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