Peters Demands ICE Explain Purchase and Use of Powerful Spyware 

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Gary Peters (D-MI), Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, is demanding an explanation for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) purchase and use of a powerful commercial spyware tool capable of accessing cell phone messages, photos, location data, microphones, and cameras without a user’s knowledge. In a letter to ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Peters pressed for documents and information detailing how Paragon Solutions’ Graphite technology is being used, the legal authorities governing its deployment, and what safeguards are in place to protect Americans’ privacy and civil liberties.    

“Graphite is a powerful, invasive cyber tool, the procurement and use of which represents one of the most significant expansions of DHS and ICE’s surveillance ambitions to date and creates significant risks to the national security of the United States,” Peters wrote. “Graphite, like other spyware tools, silently breaches devices to exfiltrate messages, photos, files, location data, and other saved data while also activating microphones and cameras – turning personal devices into surveillance tools without the user’s knowledge.” 

Authoritarian governments around the world have used the same Graphite spyware tool to target journalists, human rights advocates, opposition politicians, and other members of civil society. Although ICE has confirmed it possesses the technology, the agency has declined to answer key congressional oversight questions about who may be targeted, whether the spyware has been deployed domestically, or what legal authorities govern its use.    

“Given concerns about ICE’s collection of information about Americans, including about First Amendment-protected activities such as protesting and social media posting, and immigration enforcement officers’ references to ‘nice little databases,’ I am deeply troubled about how Graphite might be used in the United States to target Americans,” Peters wrote.    

During consideration of Republicans’ June budget reconciliation bill, Peters pushed for a vote on an amendment to the legislation that would have prohibited DHS from using spyware like Graphite on United States citizens. Republicans unanimously voted down the proposal.   

Text of the letter is available here.