'This App Lets ICE Track Vehicles and Owners Across the Country'
"Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recently invited staff to demos of an app that lets officers instantly scan a license plate, adding it to a database of billions of records that shows where else that vehicle has been spotted around the country, according to internal agency material viewed by 404 Media. That data can then be combined with other information such as driver license data, credit header data, marriage records, vehicle ownership, and voter registrations, the material shows."
"The capability is powered by both Motorola Solutions and Thomson Reuters, the massive data broker and media conglomerate, which besides running the Reuters news service, also sells masses of personal data to private industry and government agencies. The material notes that the capabilities allow for predicting where a car may travel in the future, and also can collect face scans for facial recognition."
"The material shows that ICE continues to buy or source a wealth of personal and sensitive information as part of its mass deportation effort, from medical insurance claims data, to smartphone location data, to housing and labor data. The app, called Mobile Companion, is a tool designed to be used in real time by ICE officials in the field, similar to its facial recognition app but for finding more information about vehicles."
"The tool 'includes a feature that enables your phone to function as a license plate recognition camera. This capability allows ERO [Enforcement and Removal Operations] officers to quickly identify and process license plate information,' a message sent to all ERO staff, and viewed by 404 Media, reads. The mobile app also integrates with a desktop application called Vehicle Manager, which is 'designed to assist ERO personnel in searching, analyzing, and managing license plate data to support a wide range of operations across ERO.' "
Continued at link:
https://www.404media.co/this-app-lets-ice-track-vehicles-and-owners-across-the-country/