ICE’s Webloc Enables Warrantless Neighborhood Phone Tracking

ICE has acquired surveillance tools, including Webloc, that can monitor entire neighborhoods for mobile phones and track people’s movements over time. The system relies on commercial location data via Penlink and, per an internal ICE legal analysis, can be queried without a warrant. Civil liberties groups warn this capability is dangerous and invasive, especially amid ongoing mass deportation efforts and crackdowns on protected speech.

Key Points

• ICE purchased access to two systems, Tangles and Webloc; Webloc can monitor phones across neighborhoods and track movements over time, including from workplaces to homes.
• The system uses commercial location data obtained via Penlink from hundreds of millions of devices.
• An internal ICE legal analysis indicates the data can be queried without a warrant.
• The acquisition occurs during ICE’s mass deportation efforts and a crackdown on protected speech, intensifying civil liberties concerns.
• The ACLU warns the tools’ granular tracking poses significant privacy risks by revealing intimate details of people’s lives and associations.

Sentiment

The overall sentiment of the Hacker News discussion is overwhelmingly negative towards ICE and its newly acquired surveillance capabilities, expressing strong condemnation and calls for severe accountability. There is clear agreement with the critical stance of the article, and praise for 404 Media's reporting.

In Agreement

• ICE should be dissolved, and its agents prosecuted or disallowed from future public service, indicating strong opposition to the agency's actions.
• Voters should support candidates who promise strong, even 'vindictive,' action against such government practices, reflecting deep disapproval.
• 404 Media's investigative work is highly valuable and continues to be 'great work,' implicitly endorsing the article's findings and concerns.