‘Mass Surveillance in Hyperdrive’: US Company Suspected of Enabling Government Abuses - Report

LexusNexus is under fire after it was reported that the data broker is selling spy tools and sensitive private information to US Customs and Border Protection; an agency that has long been criticized for authoritarian behavior.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has a long list of controversial behavior, such as the flouting of constitutional protections and mass arrests of racial justice protesters. Now a US-based data giant is looking to add to that list as it faces criticism for reportedly helping to facilitate the agency’s abuses of power.

New documents released after a Freedom of Information Act request suggest the company LexusNexus has been selling personal location and facial recognition data to the controversial agency since late last year. The information was revealed Thursday in a report in US media.

The data sold by the company also includes social media posts, IP addresses, employment history, and phone call records.

“This contract is mass surveillance in hyperdrive,” said Julie Mao, referring to the $15.9 million agreement signed by LexusNexus.

“It’s frightening that a rogue agency such as CBP has access to so many powerful technologies at the click of the button. Unfortunately, this is what LexisNexis appears now to be selling to thousands of police forces across the country. It’s now become a one-stop shop for accessing a range of invasive surveillance tools.”

Companies such as LexusNexus gather personal data from multiple sources. Among the most invasive information offered by the company is location tracking data gathered from individuals’ smartphones. Modern mobile phones are in constant communication with cell towers throughout the country, frequently “pinging” them as they send and receive data.

The information is stored on smartphones and can be retrieved by third-party applications which sell the data to various companies, which is then aggregated by LexusNexus.

Police agencies’ purchasing of the information is controversial as it’s seen as an end run around constitutional protections against the gathering of such data without a warrant.

The conduct of CBP has generated debate about the limits of government power in the United States; CBP touts the power to operate within 100 miles of any land or sea border in the country. The claim subjects two-thirds of Americans in most major US cities to searches by the agency.

CBP was criticized in 2020 when they flew a Predator drone over Minneapolis to surveil racial justice protesters there after the murder of George Floyd. In July of that year, CBP agents in unmarked vehicles rounded up protesters in Portland, Oregon.

And in recent years a scandal emerged when it was revealed that over 160 asylum seekers have been subjected to physical and sexual abuse by CBP and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials.