Is it possible for federal agencies to use private data brokers to gather data on individuals that are normally protected? During a public hearing in Cook County Illinois, rights groups and immigration activists organized and urged lawmakers to investigate the ways U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement partners with private data brokers. According to the activists, the pilfering of immigrant data from data harvesters like LexisNexis may amount to a legal "loophole" for government agencies to circumvent the county's sanctuary city immigration laws. Those tactics could endanger the privacy and safety of people who are not US citizens. Recent research from a group of rights groups has shown that ICE and LexisNexis are working together to sell criminal justice data. Lawyers, financial service companies, insurers, journalists, and law enforcement are some of the customers of LexisNexis. According to the report, ICE paid LexisNexis more than $17 million in February of 2021. ICE searched a large database of LexisNexis personal information more than one million times in seven months, according to a new report. Activists say those partnerships are attempts to circumvent state and local sanctuary laws. Activists argue that the data brokers are middle men. The original report by the rights groups focused on Colorado and gained the attention of the Cook County Commissioner. Mijente's national organizers said during the hearing that this is a huge loophole in sanctuary laws. Government agencies have tried many times to get data through third parties like LexisNexis. In our research we have shown that ICE is doing it. We need to know how it is in Chicago. An ICE spokesman defended the agency's partnerships and said its LexisNexis contract "complies with all laws, policies, and regulations that govern data collection" The investigative tool provided by the contract allows the agency to manage information that assists with law enforcement investigations to include national security and public safety cases.
There is a huge amount of data in question. ICE used real-time incarceration data from jails to make purchases for LexisNexis, experts testified during the hearing. Data from courthouses and traffic can be included. The experts warned that ICE could have access to people's citizenship status, addresses, phone numbers, and more. ICE could potentially use that data to locate and deport people, according to rights groups. ICE has access to driver's license data that is a potential avenue for targeting, according to one expert. The expert said that by knowing whether or not an individual had a temporary license, ICE agents could create a "target list" of people who could be deported.
"ICE is going around policies meant to protect immigrants by accessing our personal information through data brokers is yet another example of how immigrants are targeted and dehumanized." This violation of privacy and well-being is against the law. True safety doesn't come in the form of criminalization.
The speaker said that she had seen roughly 43 pages of data that ICE had collected on her. The names of 27 people living in that individual's apartment building were also included.
LexisNexis did not reply immediately.
Activists who have been involved in the fight for sanctuary laws in Illinois warned that the sidestepping of data restrictions by ICE could jeopardize the validity of those laws.
The county cannot fulfill the purpose of these policies, and county residents cannot truly feel safe, unless we ensure that county information is secure and will not land in the hands of third parties that will sell access to those that seek to harm our families andcommunities.
The county's jail and sheriff's office acknowledged they used LexisNexis but said they were unaware of sharing any data with the brokers that would violate local laws. The data provided to LexisNexis was either anonymized oraggregated.
Activists and legislators are pushing for LexisNexis to end its contracts with ICE. This week's hearing is expected to set an example for other jurisdictions, according to the Cook Country commissioner responsible for the hearing. Thomson will review its contracts with ICE.
The Fourth Amendment is Not for Sale Act was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators led by Ron Wyden and Ron Paul. The bill could close the legal loophole mentioned in the hearings.
Wyden said that doing business online doesn't mean giving the government permission to track your every movement or rifle through the most personal details of your life. The same data held by your phone company or email provider should be treated the same by the data broker.
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