Thumbs up, or thumbs down: that's the option presented to analysts when the tool Giant Oak Search Technology surfaces content from social media and other sources for ICE to scrutinize.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has used a system called Giant Oak Search Technology (GOST) to help the agency scrutinize social media posts, determine if they are “derogatory” to the U.S., and then use that information as part of immigration enforcement, according to a new cache of documents reviewed by 404 Media.

The documents peel back the curtain on a powerful system, both in a technological and a policy sense—how information is processed and used to decide who is allowed to remain in the country and who is not.

  • whale@lemm.ee
    171·
    1 year ago

    There’s nothing preventing this technology from being used on American citizens, other than the proportional outrage it would be bound to generate if it was also found out.

    All in all, this revelation is pretty horrifying, and ICE has demonstrated yet again that it requires less funding, more oversight, or sheer abolition… Or some combination.

    • phillaholic@lemm.ee
      25·
      1 year ago

      These are indexing publicly available social media posts aren’t they? It’s not a policy matter if you’re voluntarily offering it to everyone.

        • phillaholic@lemm.ee
          32·
          1 year ago

          This is Immigration. People are voluntarily applying to come to the US. Their public social media posts being reviewed isn’t a privacy violation. Even if it’s done on US citizens, it’s public information. Regardless on whether it’s a good idea or not, it’s not a privacy issue. You’re voluntarily giving up the privacy of the information you do and say in public. If they utilize non-public information then you have an argument.