A group of senators is renewing its call for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to immediately suspend its use of a facial recognition app to identify individuals on American streets.
Sens. Ed Markey, D-Mass, Chris Van Hollen, D-Md., Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Adam Schiff, D-Calif., told ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons that the immigration enforcement entity’s use of a mobile app known as “Mobile Fortify” must stop after recent videos posted to social media depicted ICE agents using the application for identity verification.
The facial recognition technology (FRT) app allows agents to scan faces and retrieve information on individuals captured by their cameras.
The senators previously wrote to Lyons in September after initial reporting revealed ICE’s use of the app.
“As we explained in our September letter, this expanded use of FRT creates serious privacy and civil liberties risks,” the senators wrote, adding that they “are reiterating our demand that ICE immediately cease using this app and renew our request for answers to our questions about ICE’s policies and practices surrounding the use of biometric technology.”
Those questions included when ICE officers first used the app, whether it was tested for accuracy, whether it is legal, and what steps were taken when deploying the technology.
“We requested answers to our questions by October 2, but ICE has still not responded. This is unacceptable. ICE has a responsibility to timely answer congressional inquiries,” the senators stated.
ICE’s deployment of the Mobile Fortify app comes with a flurry of other efforts by the Department of Homeland Security in recent weeks to collect biometric information for immigration enforcement activities, which the department has said are necessary for national security.
This week, ICE announced its intent to collect biometric data from both non-U.S. citizens and Americans involved in an immigration or visa process, including children under 14, and DHS recently said it is creating a biometric “gallery” of data collected at entry and exit points for international visitors.