“Records reviewed by WIRED also show that DHS’s hasty approval of Fortify last May was enabled by dismantling centralized privacy reviews and quietly removing department-wide limits on facial recognition—changes overseen by a former Heritage Foundation lawyer and Project 2025 contributor, who now serves in a senior DHS privacy role.”

“DHS—which has declined to detail the methods and tools that agents are using, despite repeated calls from oversight officials and nonprofit privacy watchdogs—has used Mobile Fortify to scan the faces not only of “targeted individuals,” but also people later confirmed to be US citizens and others who were observing or protesting enforcement activity.”

“Directive 026-11 stated that facial recognition should not be used as the sole basis for law or civil enforcement actions and that US citizens should have the right to opt out when collection isn’t for a law enforcement purpose.”

“Fortify was fast-tracked less than two months after Directive 026-11 disappeared, in May 2025. CBP and ICE privacy officers alone concluded that no new privacy assessment was required under federal law—an authority it did not previously possess. Records show that such determinations historically rested with the DHS senior director of privacy compliance, a headquarters official acting on behalf of the department’s chief privacy officer and independent of operational agencies.”

“Senator Markey and colleagues this week introduced legislation aimed at prohibiting ICE and CBP from using certain facial-recognition and biometric surveillance tools, saying the agencies have built a sweeping surveillance apparatus that is being used far from the border to scan people without consent, accountability, or clear legal limits. The full text of the bill, short-titled the ICE Out of Our Faces Act, was unavailable at time of writing.”

ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are

- Wired Magazine
Dell Cameron & Maddy Varner
FEB 5, 2026 3:28 PM

#privacy #digitalliberties #facialrecognition #masssurveillance #policestate
https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-ice-dhs-mobile-fortify-face-recognition-verify-identity/

“Records reviewed by WIRED also show that DHS’s hasty approval of Fortify last May was enabled by dismantling centralized privacy reviews and quietly removing department-wide limits on facial recognition—changes overseen by a former Heritage Foundation lawyer and Project 2025 contributor, who now serves in a senior DHS privacy role.”

“DHS—which has declined to detail the methods and tools that agents are using, despite repeated calls from oversight officials and nonprofit privacy watchdogs—has used Mobile Fortify to scan the faces not only of “targeted individuals,” but also people later confirmed to be US citizens and others who were observing or protesting enforcement activity.”

“Directive 026-11 stated that facial recognition should not be used as the sole basis for law or civil enforcement actions and that US citizens should have the right to opt out when collection isn’t for a law enforcement purpose.”

“Fortify was fast-tracked less than two months after Directive 026-11 disappeared, in May 2025. CBP and ICE privacy officers alone concluded that no new privacy assessment was required under federal law—an authority it did not previously possess. Records show that such determinations historically rested with the DHS senior director of privacy compliance, a headquarters official acting on behalf of the department’s chief privacy officer and independent of operational agencies.”

“Senator Markey and colleagues this week introduced legislation aimed at prohibiting ICE and CBP from using certain facial-recognition and biometric surveillance tools, saying the agencies have built a sweeping surveillance apparatus that is being used far from the border to scan people without consent, accountability, or clear legal limits. The full text of the bill, short-titled the ICE Out of Our Faces Act, was unavailable at time of writing.”

ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are

- Wired Magazine
Dell Cameron & Maddy Varner
FEB 5, 2026 3:28 PM

#privacy #digitalliberties #facialrecognition #masssurveillance #policestate
https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-ice-dhs-mobile-fortify-face-recognition-verify-identity/