Be Careful: Immigration Can Access Your Private Social Networks

It is widely documented how government immigration agencies feed on databases to monitor thousands of immigrants, including citizens, without necessarily having a judicial order or probable cause of a crime to do so. Under this premise, it is important to remember that your digital footprint cannot be easily erased.

Can ICE investigate you without a judge’s order or probable cause?

In the United States, neither the police nor immigration agents can enter your home without permission or a judge’s order; the Constitution establishes this. Likewise, your personal data is protected by the same amendment. However, ICE is taking advantage of a legal loophole and has invested billions of dollars in a powerful surveillance system, practically without restrictions or supervision.

The report “American Dragnet: Data-Driven Deportation in the 21st Century,” from the Georgetown Law Center on Privacy and Technology, explains how ICE has accessed, often without any judicial, legislative, or public oversight, databases containing personal and detailed records of the vast majority of people in the country.

The report indicates that ICE has scanned the driver’s license photos of 1 in 3 adults in the country and has access to driver’s license data for 3 out of 4 adults. Agents can locate 3 out of 4 adults through public service records such as water or electricity.

Can ICE access my private social media accounts?

A recent report highlights a new practice that expands the network of information ICE is using to monitor immigrants.

At the end of May, The Guardian revealed how the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) sent large technology

Presidente

Alvaro Gurdián

Directora

Hilda H. Gurdián

Vice Presidente

Alvaro Gurdián Jr.

Editor Diego Barahona A. dbarahona@lanoticia.com

Reporteros

Kayla Young

Yuliana Montiel

Jeralí Giménez

Jonathan Hernández Apolo Valdés

Escritores/Colaboradores

Mae Lynn Reyes-Rodríguez, Ph.D.

Dr. Mike Walden

Dr. Carlos Cruz

Patricia Huerta

Gustavo Cruz

Marcos Andón Ernesto Maradiaga

Fotos/Video

Rodrigo Gaudenzi

José Félix Sánchez

Traducción Kendal Walters

Ventas

Rosario Herrera Gerente de Ventas Sector Latino 704-965-9443 rherrera@lanoticia.com

Directora de Arte María E. Benton

Director de Informática

Alvaro Gurdián Jr.

Diego Barahona A.

companies like Google, Twitter, and Meta at least 500 administrative subpoenas demanding confidential personal information from their users.

Unlike search warrants, administrative subpoenas do not have the endorsement of a judge, which means that companies are not legally obligated to comply or respond until a judge compels them to do so. The Guardian found evidence that technology companies provided user information in some cases, although it is unclear to what extent they complied with all of ICE’s requests.

What to do?

Accelerated technological development has made it easier than ever to violate people’s privacy. Everything you put on the Internet—every transaction you make with your credit card, every text message, every call, every page you visit—can be easily traced. Therefore, it is very important to monitor your cyber behavior.

This vulnerability phenomenon is new, and we have not fully seen its scope yet. For better or worse, living isolated from technology is very difficult. Therefore, do not unnecessarily expose yourself to situations that you may regret later.

Monitor your comments on social media, think twice before uploading photos, and remember that your cyber footprint will remain in the virtual world forever.

Everything mentioned above is not an apology for the paranoia of feeling constantly monitored. It is a warning that everything you say in the digital world can also be used against you.

Perhaps one of the most vulnerable groups on this issue are our young people. The new generations go hand in hand with computer advances, while many parents have been relegated to watching as their children master a world that many adults are only just getting to know.

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Alejandrina Rosales

Director de Circulación Alvaro Gurdián

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Leopoldo Rodríguez

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