How ICE Uses Tech to Surveil and Track People

In a recent MPR News article, reporters Nina Moini and Ellen Finn describe how the federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency identifies and tracks undocumented immigrants who have blended into local communities, often living for decades without appearing on ICE’s radar.

Citing reporting from 404 Media, Moini and Finn note that ICE recently purchased two software tools, Tangles and Webloc, which are used to track cell phone activity, monitor social media, and collect internet data. The article includes an interview with 404 Media journalist Joseph Cox, who provides insight into how these tools work and how they are used to track individuals.

Below are key highlights about Tangles and Webloc, as reported by Joseph Cox.

Tangles

According to Joseph Cox, Tangles is a social media surveillance tool that allows ICE to systematically monitor people’s online activity across platforms. The software scrapes public social media data and makes it easily searchable for law enforcement.

ICE officials can place individuals on watch lists and receive real-time alerts whenever those individuals post new content. Tangles also uses artificial intelligence to analyze posts for sentiment or themes, flagging content that ICE may consider noteworthy.

Cox emphasizes that the value of Tangles lies in its ability to provide continuous, automated monitoring of online behavior rather than one-time searches.

Webloc

Webloc complements this capability by enabling large-scale location tracking based on cellphone data. Rather than obtaining data directly from telecom companies, which would typically require a warrant, Webloc relies on location data harvested through the online advertising ecosystem.

This data is collected when ads load inside mobile apps and is later sold by data brokers to government agencies. Using Webloc’s map-based interface, ICE can draw geographic boundaries around specific locations, such as protests, ICE facilities, or border areas, and view which phones were present. Officials can then follow those devices over time, allowing them to infer where people live, work, and travel.

Tangles is a surveillance tool developed by Cobwebs Technologies, which was founded in Israel by former members of Israeli military special units and acquired by PenLink in 2023. Tangles operates as an AI-driven web platform that gathers data from the open, deep, and dark web. Its notable feature, WebLoc, allows clients to track the movements of mobile devices within a designated virtual area using geofencing, all without the need for a search warrant or subpoena.

The U.S Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has used monitoring services from Cobwebs Technologies, including Tangles, for social media mining purposes. The Texas Observer reported that in June, 2024, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) finalized a five-year acquisition plan for Tangles in a deal worth nearly $5.3 million.

Tangles is also part of the U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) surveillance toolkit.
– Source: Tangles website

Cox notes that while these tools may not always be effective for tracking a single, specific individual, they are particularly powerful for monitoring the movements and behavior of groups of people. When used together, Tangles and Webloc give ICE a broad surveillance capability that links individuals’ online expression with their physical movement, often without the need for a warrant or the knowledge of the people being tracked.

Tangles and Webloc are surveillance tools currently sold to ICE by PenLink, a U.S.-based law-enforcement technology company. The tools were originally developed by Cobwebs Technologies, an Israeli intelligence software firm that specialized in large-scale web and social media data collection. After Cobwebs was acquired by a private equity firm that also owns PenLink, the technologies were folded into PenLink’s product lineup and marketed to U.S. government agencies.

PenLink promotes Tangles and Webloc as “open-source intelligence” and analytics tools that help law enforcement analyze online activity and location data more efficiently. Earlier, Cobwebs marketed these tools internationally to police and intelligence agencies and drew scrutiny after social media companies, including Meta, restricted its software for violating platform data-collection policies.

Today, PenLink markets the combined tools to ICE and other U.S. agencies as integrated solutions for tracking online behavior and physical movement, even as civil liberties groups raise concerns about privacy, transparency, and the lack of warrant requirements.

Acknowledgement: This summary was generated using AI writing tools as part of my experimental learning process. For more detail, check out the original articles listed below.