ICE

ICE CIO gives Zoom the cold shoulder

The top tech official at Immigration and Customs Enforcement is instructing employees to avoid installing Zoom for video conferencing and use instead Skype, MS Teams and WebEx.

DHS maps out data sharing with Census Bureau

Data on travel, immigration and enforcement from the Department of Homeland Security will be used by the Census Bureau as part of a plan to determine the number of immigrants and non-citizens residing in the U.S. in the 2020 population count.

DHS acquisitions are steady despite CIO departure

Technology procurement at the Department of Homeland Security remains on steady ground despite the departure of CIO Dr. John Zangardi earlier this month for an industry job, according to the agency's top acquisition official.

McAleenan resignation puts the spotlight on DHS vacancies

Ten of the most senior posts at the Department of Homeland Security are held by acting leaders, and only five have candidates in the Senate confirmation pipeline.

Digital rights group sues DHS over warrantless surveillance at border

The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit demanding the release of legal and training documents that could shed new light on the government's use of GPS trackers for vehicles entering the United States.

ICE extends Palantir's case management contract

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is sticking with Palantir's Gotham as its case management tool, and granted Palantir a three-year sole source extension to operate and service the system.

Acting DHS chief plans to unify immigration IT

The Trump administration plans to seek supplemental 2019 and 2020 funds to push its border policies, including IT modernization plans.

Acquisition frozen at DHS due to the shutdown

The Department of Homeland Security acknowledged that the government shutdown, now over a month old, is hampering the ability of the agency to respond to contract solicitations.

DHS contractors face protests – on the streets

Tech companies are facing protests internally from workers and externally from activists about doing for government amid controversial policies like "zero tolerance" for illegal immigration.

Mismatched IT made family separation crisis worse, watchdog says

A report from the Department of Homeland Security inspector general said that many agency components mismanaged the implementation of a "zero tolerance" policy at the border, and mismatched and incompatible IT exacerbated problems.

State Department wants to ask all visa applicants about their social media activity

For the millions who seek a U.S. visa every year, giving up social media information and history may become a required step.

Drone cybersecurity policy still up in the air

Federal agencies are facing a policy gap when it comes to IoT cybersecurity, but basic due diligence is still the best approach, experts say.

ICE memo says Chinese-made drones are snoops

An ICE intel memo claims that a Chinese UAS maker is dumping cheap drones on the U.S. market to capture sensitive infrastructure data.

Technologists, privacy advocates push back against algorithmic 'extreme vetting'

The Trump administration's plan to use predictive software to rate threats posed by immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers will result in discriminatory decisions, say a group of privacy advocates and computer scientists.

DHS plan to collect immigrants' social media gets roasted in the comments

A proposal to update information collection on legal immigrants and naturalized citizens to include social media details is roundly criticized by privacy and immigrant advocates.

DHS adds social media to immigration files

A move by the Department of Homeland Security to add public facing online data to an immigration database is generating controversy and comments, but DHS says it hasn't launched a new policy.

How data mining can help chase sex traffickers

To aid law enforcement, researchers developed automated data mining techniques that can identify human traffickers by linking bitcoin, online advertisements and writing style.