Senator Edward J. Markey teamed up with fellow US Senator Ron Wyden, of Oregon, to demand answers from immigration officials about their use of facial recognition and fingerprint scanning technology for surveillance purposes, according to a copy of a letter sent Thursday.
The letter, addressed to Todd Lyons, acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, called for the agency to cease its reported use of “Mobile Fortify,” a smartphone application that allows federal agents to identify people in the field.
Such technology is often “biased and inaccurate,” especially when it pertains to communities of color, the letter said, and when misused threatens free speech and privacy rights.
“This app reportedly allows federal agents to identify and retrieve vast amounts of information on a person, just by pointing a phone at their face,” the letter said.
“ICE should immediately cease using this app and explain its policies and practices surrounding the use of biometric technology,” the Democratic senators wrote.
Even when accurate, “this type of on-demand surveillance threatens the privacy and free speech rights of everyone in the United States, especially when weaponized against protesters and anyone who speaks out against the federal government’s policies,” the senators wrote.
The app connects to federal and state biometric databases, and agents are “repurposing” data about “individuals, vehicles, airplanes, vessels, addresses, phone numbers and firearms” for their immigration enforcement purposes, the letter said.
“The idea that federal agents can access such detailed, sensitive information on an individual, merely by pointing their phone at them, is chilling,” the senators’ letter said.
“This Big Brotherism means that individuals may be less able to move, assemble, or appear in public without the federal government identifying and tracking them,” the letter said.
The likely result would be a chilling effect on activities protected by the First Amendment, “undermining the very core of our democracy,” the letter said.
ICE agents originally used the technology at borders and ports of entry, but “now appears to have deployed the technology on American streets,” the senators said.
According to the letter, ICE developed the app but has released little information about it, its purposes, or limitations.
The senators set an Oct. 2 deadline for a response to their letter.
“ICE’s expanded use of biometric technology systems threatens a sweeping and lasting impact on the public’s civil rights and liberties,” the letter said.
Tonya Alanez can be reached at tonya.alanez@globe.com. Follow her @talanez.
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