ICE Is Using ShadowDragon to Spy On Anyone They Want To
A contractor for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and many other US government agencies has developed a tool that lets analysts more easily pull a target individual’s publicly available data.
Welcome to the United States of Surveillance.
Where the government is mapping out your digital relationships, from the websites you frequent to the people you interact with.
But they would never use this information... right?
Spoiler alert: ICE is using ShadowDragon, a company that maps out users digital lives across over 200 sites like Meta, BlueSky, OnlyFans and more.
Two days ago we reported on the US State Department's new "Catch and Revoke" program and there is zero evidence the two programs are related. ShadowDragon markets itself for monitoring protests, with it's CEO Daniel Clemens stating that protesters should not "be surprised when people are going to investigate you because you made their life difficult."
Well he sounds delightful. 🤮
I do not believe that expressing my freedom of speech by attending a protest means that I waive my rights to privacy, considering I never opted in to be tracked.
But that is the logic being used by corporations, governments and enforcement agencies these days - if you opt in to ONE app, just ONE, they argue you are throwing away your entire expectation of privacy.
Don’t believe me? Don’t worry. I left that article pinned to the top of my Substack.
Anyways, marketing material available online says Shadow Dragon’s SocialNet can plot identities and find connections between them; create a map of suspicious activity and follow a suspect’s trail, and “follow the breadcrumbs of your target’s digital life and find hidden correlations in your research.” In one promotional video, ShadowDragon says users can enter “an email, an alias, a name, a phone number, a variety of different things, and immediately have information on your target. We can see interests, we can see who friends are, pictures, videos.”
The thing is, they don’t necessarily have permission to be pulling information from those sites. Pinterest, CashApp, Meta, LinkedIn and Snapchat have all denied authorizing any such information request, all pointing to their respective terms of service prohibiting such activity.
The leaked list of targeted sites and services include ones from major tech companies such as Apple, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and TikTok. It also includes communication tools like Discord and WhatsApp; activity- or hobby-focused sites like AllTrails, BookCrossing, Chess.com, and cigar review site Cigar Dojo; payment services like Cash App, BuyMeACoffee, and PayPal; sex worker sites OnlyFans and JustForFans; and social networks Bluesky and Telegram. Even relatively obscure social networks are included in the list, such as BeReal.
And Roblox is there to…
ShadowDragon also pulls data from some sites geared towards specific demographics and highly personal interests, such as the social network for Black people called Black Planet or the fetish site FetLife, which 404 Media previously reported.
According to US government procurement databases, ShadowDragon’s clients include the State Department, the Army, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the DEA, and, especially, ICE. ICE continued its contract with ShadowDragon as recently as February 24, with the procurement record saying the deal included access to SocialNet.
As usual, ICE did not respond to a request for comment.
Sources:
https://www.404media.co/the-200-sites-an-ice-surveillance-contractor-is-monitoring/
This is nothing new. The local sheriff's departments have been using similar software for years (along with various other spying tools like the StingRays/fake cell phone towers.) Hint: This class of software will be used against women, if I had to bet, Texas AG Paxton is already using it to track women's health appointments and travel outside the state. Social media got in bed with the federal government because the government (from Washington D.C to your city hall) is a data customer. The PACs/SuperPACs are data consumers. Political operatives and private spying corporations are data consumers (see article below). And one nefarious effort after another involves your social media data that is then tied to everything else in your life, down to which charities you support. Social media has been turned into a system of mass surveillance for profit and a weapon against the voting public (then add all those traffic and neighborhood cameras recording you and your car dozens of times every time you run an errand, they can map your whereabouts easily): https://substack.com/@nutballcop/p-157338663
CATHOLIC — ICE, BORDER PATROL & LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENTS - The POPE said Trump’s immigrant deportation plan is evil and Vance’s rationalization to justify it … is wrong. The POPE said “Trumps deportation plan is a crisis.” The Bible says “You cannot serve God and mammon". SO YOU MUST CHOOSE!