ICE Is Buying Access to Credit Card Records
Through data brokers, ICE is buying the information you provided to open a credit card.
Comments
MikeOh Shark • August 7, 2026 8:28 AM
Most Americans don’t seem to know or understand much about the data broker markets. We really need The Fourth Amendment Is Not For Sale Act.
The data pipeline here is pretty interesting. No warrant needed.
Bank > Credit Bureaus > Thomson Reuters’ CLEAR platform > ICE
There’s a better graphic in the article.
Joseph Cox replies in the comments “… if you want to realistically participate in the financial system, you basically have to give up to this”
I’m glad I’m not the only one curious about ICE’s new voter fraud initiative. More on that here:
https://www.404media.co/ice-to-pay-thomson-reuters-125-million-to-find-voter-fraud/
Emma Pullman comments in the article “… TRSS latest ICE contract is the first to include voter fraud that we are aware of, and we intend to press the company, alongside other investors, for clarity on this contract.”
That’s good.
404 links to this procurement document:
“Due to ICE’s re-prioritized mission, there is need for this data to be readily accessible to support the presidential mandate of the identification of Voters Fraud, Immigration Fraud and National Security.”
Thomas Reuters Special Services provides a lot of data to ICE, but they aren’t the only contractor.
The J O K E called AY-D33-H0 • August 7, 2026 2:31 PM
Don has a dog. Don walks by with his dog. Don listens to the “bug” but does Don know that all of us in our house K N O W about the planted bug?
What is the point of a bug if I know about it but ignore it?
There is absolutely N O T H I N G more ridiculous than these D1P$CHTU3CK$ in AY-DEE-HOO trying really hard to spy on me. W A S T I N G the tax-payers’ moneys and not having to answer to nobody for it – AG of AY-DEE-HOO – The TERRORIST ON TOP OF THE GOVERNMENT!
Bob • August 7, 2026 2:50 PM
ICE has been black-bagging Native Americans and executing white American citizens. Only a fool would believe that’s about immigration.
Clive Robinson • August 7, 2026 3:26 PM
@ ALL,
Here we are shocked at ICE getting access through “Data Brokers”.
But have you asked about 404 Media that provided the story abd what it does with your personal details required to read the article?
Or increasing numbers of Web Sites.
Bow of course we have “think of the children” nonsense to be built way down deep into your phone OS by Apple and Alphabet.
But also there is Microsoft forcing a unique ID on to just about everyone who uses Edge, the OS or more importantly the likes of Office etc as SaaS.
But in Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft’s case, they are now pushing in “Client Side Scanning” into the “User Interface” to “Phone Home” with just about everything you type or see.
If people remember this is “not new” look up Carrier IQ Scandal back at the end of 2011,
“On November 12, 2011, researcher Trevor Eckhart stated in a post on androidsecuritytest.com that Carrier IQ was logging information such as location without notifying users or allowing them to opt out, and that the information tracked included detailed keystroke logs, potentially violating US federal law.
On November 16, 2011, Carrier IQ sent Eckhart a cease and desist letter claiming that he was in copyright infringement by posting Carrier IQ training documents on his website and also making “false allegations.” Eckhart sought and received the backing of user rights advocacy group Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF).”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrier_IQ
Whilst the 2005 Startup continuously denied the claims and got taken over by AT&T in 2015, Trevor Eckhart’s claims were essentially proved as far as the public were concerned and a fair amount of legal action against CarrierIQ was started.
The sad fact is that it’s not just the software that lingered but the whole “Client Side Scanning” and “ET Phone Home” idea. And with it, the whole idea is now fairly well established and nobody appears either aware or concerned…
Lambda • August 7, 2026 4:00 PM
The oldest and hardest security question: how do you manage societies of more than about 150 people without organs of power which just accumulate more and more power? Thousands of years and nobody has solved it.
(This may not be entirely accurate, but it’s certainly a useful idea to have thought about.)
lurker • August 7, 2026 7:03 PM
McCarthy railed against Stalin for this sort of activity. But Stalin owned the bank which made it easier. Now it’s being done by American “free” enterprise.
Clive Robinson • August 8, 2026 1:49 AM
@ lurker, ALL,
With regards,
“But Stalin owned the bank…”
There is an old joke about Communism and Capitalism both being the same in that,
“They lock up what they profess to love the most.”
But what this actually shows is the “Directing Mind” problem writ large.
Anything that is good or bad to individuals or society unfortunately can and usually does has “value” to one or more “Directing Minds”. The greater the number of such minds or the more abhorrent the idea/thing/practice the greater the “marketable value”.
We can argue about the morals moors and economic minutiae but to a certain percentage of the population they will not care except for the realisable value they can acquire.
Hence a “marketplace” illicit or otherwise will arise as a natural consequence.
And thus “the Camel-Nose” of politics appears around the tent-flap to “make-votes” and this attracts like flies to a turd the lobbyists to hand out emollients to the politicians palms (which is a good enough reason to never touch a politicians hand even if it is not dripping in blood as well).
Winter • August 8, 2026 4:59 AM
@Bob
Only a fool would believe that’s about immigration.
Even fairly recent history shows us the killing never stops. There are always new people eligible to be killed.
And always, those who called for the killing will be killed by it too.
Clive Robinson • August 8, 2026 6:40 AM
@ Winter, Bob, ALL,
With regards,
“And always, those who called for the killing will be killed by it too.”
Sadly, no.
The reason is,
“Your humble servant”…
Hiding behind the throne and manipulating via,
“Arms length control”
In essence they either put a puppet in control as the leader or they make a puppet out of the existing leader.
This leader is in effect talked into calling for the policy directly or more likely indirectly. But you can be reasonably certain it is that “humble servant” that is actually in control and calling the shots.
This is what we can see happening with “The Heritage Foundation” and the supposed “Project 2025”.
At the end of the day it is this puppet leader who “gets the chop” if it’s going to happen. Whilst the “humble servant” ducks out for a while, just to come back again. Hence the policy goes on.
The thing is the important part is “arms length” segregation that now gives “plausible deniability” or similar. We saw the rise of this with “The Computer says NO” and this is only going to get worse with AI.
And to be honest it is what scares me most about Government and AI even though RoboDebt and DODGE etc have shown without doubt all such systems will be utter failures and only achieve real harms against vulnerable people it’s something no short term thinking idiot can resist be they in Politics or US Style Corporatism.
Winter • August 8, 2026 7:48 AM
@Clive
Sadly, no.
I was thinking about Robespierre et al., the first generation of the Russian revolution, the German SA, you name it. The revolutions always ate their children.
Subscribe to comments on this entry
Leave a comment
← Adversarial Clothing Designed to Fool Facial Recognition Systems Friday Squid Blogging: Arctic Bobtail Squid Video →
Sidebar photo of Bruce Schneier by Joe MacInnis.
Rontea • August 7, 2026 7:44 AM
In the age of cards and codes, freedom is not lost with a gunshot, but with a signature.