ICE's Massive Phone Monitoring Plot Exposed Under Trump Administration

ICE's Expanded Surveillance Capabilities

• 🎯 ICE is reportedly acquiring tools from Penlink that allow agents to access private information from popular apps on millions of mobile devices.
• 💡 This includes compiling and processing billions of daily location signals, with features like face detection and advanced face search.
• 📱 The Penlink product, Tangles, can ingest historical data from communications, mobile forensics, location data, financial records, and web intelligence.

Controversial Software and Past Misconduct

• ⚠️ Penlink was previously removed from Meta for allegedly using Facebook and WhatsApp accounts to snoop on activists and opposition politicians in Hong Kong and Mexico.
• spyware company Paragon Solutions, founded in Israel, has a contract to provide tools like the zeroclick graphite program.
• 🚫 This program can extract data from encrypted apps, and its use was previously halted under Biden after DHS found it broke laws regarding location data usage.

Political and Privacy Implications

• 🗣️ The acquisition of these tools is framed as part of Donald Trump's agenda for mass deportation and a "fabulously well-funded secret police."
• 🔍 The expansion of surveillance is seen as a way to crack down on activists and critics of Donald Trump.
• 📉 The narrative suggests that some on the right, who criticize the surveillance state, are not recognizing Trump's role in expanding it.

Platforms and App Restrictions

• 🌐 ICE's tools can access data from platforms including Facebook, Reddit, TikTok, and V contact.
• 🚫 Apple has removed ICE tracking apps from its store under government pressure, despite them not breaking any laws, simply informing users about ICE activities.