A group of US senators is demanding that Immigration and Customs Enforcement immediately stop using a smartphone application that employs facial recognition technology. Senators Edward J. Markey, Ron Wyden, and Jeff Merkley led the charge, sending a formal letter to Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons urging the agency to halt its use of the Mobile Fortify app.
The lawmakers expressed significant concerns over the reliability of facial recognition software, pointing to studies that have shown the technology remains prone to errors, particularly when identifying people of color. They also issued a stark warning about the broader societal impact, arguing that real-time government surveillance can have a chilling effect on activities protected by the First Amendment.
The senators stated that when people believe they are being watched, they are less likely to participate in protests or rallies. They argued this undermines a fundamental pillar of American democracy by discouraging free speech and public assembly.
In their letter, the senators posed a series of direct questions to ICE. They requested details on the developer of the Mobile Fortify app, its deployment date, and whether the agency conducted any accuracy tests. They also demanded to know the legal basis for its use and asked for a copy of the current policies governing the tool. Crucially, they asked if ICE would commit to ending the program and to provide a full explanation if it refused to do so. The lawmakers set a deadline of October 2 for the agency to respond.
The letter gained additional weight with the signatures of other prominent senators, including Elizabeth Warren, Cory Booker, and Bernie Sanders.
This action highlights the ongoing national controversy surrounding law enforcement’s use of facial recognition. Earlier this summer, a report revealed that the New Orleans police had secretly used the technology on a network of over 200 private cameras for two years. This operation violated city ordinances that restricted its use to searching for specific suspects of violent crimes and required transparency with the city council.
Public opinion on the technology is mixed. A plurality of Americans support the use of facial recognition by police and in workplaces, but often with strict limitations in place. The call for regulation is growing in the absence of comprehensive federal laws governing biometric data.
Without a national framework, individual states have been forced to create their own rules. States like Illinois have enacted laws that allow individuals to sue companies for the misuse of their biometric data and require that companies obtain written consent before collecting such information. The consequences for violations can be severe. Last year, Meta paid a historic 1.4 billion dollar settlement to the state of Texas for allegedly collecting the biometric data of millions of residents without their consent.
