6 ms·

Court Filings: ICE App Identifies Protesters; Global Entry, PreCheck Get Revoked

225 points by datsci_est_2015 9mo ago

elmerfud 9mo ago
So that whole not using facial recognition and deleting the data after use wasn't real. How shocking. You wonder why the NRA has such a strong lobby against gun registration. It's for the same reasons. Political abuse of exercising of rights. By the time this makes it through the courts people will have forgotten.
- _DeadFred_ 9mo ago
  Reminder what they are doing to the brave Americans who refuse to let the secret police operate in secret (we have the Constitutional right to observe them, we don't do secret police in the USA): https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/30/st-peter-police-chief-intervenes-prevents-federal-agents-from-arresting-resident https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/30/st-peter-police-chi... Chicago Woman Shot 5 Times By Border Agents Will Testify In Washington Next Week https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/01/29/chicago-woman-shot-5-times-by-border-agents-will-testify-in-washington-next-week/ https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/01/29/chicago-woman-shot-5... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBd5qfRe0SY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBd5qfRe0SY Thanks go out to tech for enabling these guys.
- JumpCrisscross 9mo ago
  > that whole not using facial recognition and deleting the data after use wasn't real What are you referring to?
  - blinded 9mo ago
    https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2025/05/20/tsa-facial-recognition-safety/83726603007/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2025/05/20/tsa-fa... "According to the TSA, your information is generally deleted shortly after you pass the screening process and is not used for surveillance purposes."
    - JumpCrisscross 9mo ago
      You submit permanent biometrics as part of PreCheck and Global Entry. DHS is presumably using those data for identification.
      - datsci_est_2015 9mo ago
        Is DHS’s usage against the stated purpose of the biometrics collection? Was there even a stated purpose?
        lazide 9mo ago
        The stated purpose for biometrics and photos with PreCheck and Global Entry is to identify you, so it’s not likely against its stated purpose to use it for identification, per-se. Now using it to target protesters? Meh.
        datsci_est_2015 9mo ago
        Identify you when though? Important question I guess
        lazide 9mo ago
        The US has been using ICE a lot. Guess who is doing the identifying - CBP and ICE. Guess who runs borders and immigration, which is the use case for PreCheck and Global Entry? Guess what the stated jurisdictional limits are for CBP? 100 miles from any possible border [https://legalclarity.org/immigration-map-of-us-jurisdictional-boundaries/ https://legalclarity.org/immigration-map-of-us-jurisdictiona...]. Guess who has essentially unlimited jurisdictional limits? ICE. So they can pretend they are ‘checking for immigration status’ using the existing photos and biometrics, while simultaneously gathering information on who is at what protest. Then the info gets shared once gathered - with or without plausible deniability - and blam. Bobs your uncle.
        9mo ago
g-b-r 9mo ago
This is a first amendment violation, right?
- apgwoz 9mo ago
  Yes. Except they are attempting to make the claim that protesters are interfering with federal operations, which is a crime. Therefore, they can try to make the claim that they are only investigating potential involvement in a crime, punish you, and file it under a violation of the terms of service for precheck and global entry. IANAL, etc, but this seems to be the strategy.
  - g-b-r 9mo ago
    I don't think that terms of service can override the constitution, in any case
- JumpCrisscross 9mo ago
  Almost certainly. The law should also be amended to require conviction or settlement, not merely investigation, to revoke someone’s PreCheck or Global Entry status.
  - bri3d 9mo ago
    Overall you can have Global Entry revoked for almost anything; one of the clauses is “The applicant has been found in violation of any customs, immigration, or agriculture regulations, procedures, or laws in any country.” which falls dramatically short of a crime or investigation. There are many reports of GE revocation for stuff like failure to declare fruits at checkpoints.
    - metadat 9mo ago
      How is attending a protest a potential violation of customs regulations? This doesn't track.
      - 9mo ago
nerdsniper 9mo ago
Better source? (Maybe?) https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01/ice-protester-says-her-global-entry-was-revoked-after-agent-scanned-her-face/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01/ice-protester-sa...
- datsci_est_2015 9mo ago
  Fair. I’ve seen this site posted on HN before, mostly in the context of business travel and tech in the airline industry, so I didn’t consider it too low quality.
- loeg 9mo ago
  [flagged]
Herring 9mo ago
Reminder that the most reliable way to prevent the rise of the far right is to implement robust safety nets and low inequality, to reduce status anxiety and grievance.
- zanecodes 9mo ago
  The far right are largely the people voting against robust safety nets and low inequality...
  - Herring 9mo ago
    That is true, but there is still the rest of the country, and Trump’s ratings are dropping as everyone finds out they don’t like fascism. I’m hoping we don’t just go back to business as usual.
  - steveBK123 9mo ago
    The leaders of the right are against a robust safety net, yes. Populist right voters however hate socialism but also want the government to keep their hands off their medicare and social security.
    - jmye 9mo ago
      And vehemently oppose any expansion of those things to people they want to suffer. Populist right voters hate the idea that there isn’t someone “below” them and will vigorously and violently oppose any attempts to alter the pecking order. Let’s not make excuses, here.
- morkalork 9mo ago
  This is solid advice for 30-40 years ago but today it's a little too late..
  - Herring 9mo ago
    You can also look at it as early for 2070.
SilverElfin 9mo ago
> You can lose Global Entry for complaining about a customs officer. Putting an apple from your flight in your bag, and then not declaring it can cost you your Global Entry. So can attempting a coup against the United States. So, too, now it seems just for protesting against government policy. This is incredibly scary and violating. It’s not in line with due process and our societal values. But I also wonder if the right realizes that they’ve slowly morphed into the same social credit score authoritarianism that they have criticized for years.
- kelnos 9mo ago
  > It’s not in line with [...] our societal values. The scary thing is that I think it is in line with the social values of a disturbingly sizeable, growing group of Americans.
ChrisArchitect 9mo ago
[dupe] Earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46823261 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46823261
- datsci_est_2015 9mo ago
  I don’t think that this is a dupe, the ramifications of citizens being removed from Global Entry and PreCheck lists wasn’t part of the NYT article AFAIU. Curious that at its current score and comment count it’s no longer on the front page, despite being neither flagged nor marked as dupe. Edit: guess it’s flipping in between page 1 and 2 per refresh.
BloodyIron 9mo ago
The problem with biometrics, as in biologically unique biometrics (fingerprints, blood, retina, etc) is that once it's in a database, you're fucked *for life*. It's unrealistic to destroy said records with absolute certainty in the entirety of the universe. Data is pervasive, and biometric databases are likely the most lucrative data to sell and share. Biometrics are abusable in so many different ways, I probably don't know them all. But here's some thoughts around that. It's proven that police have for decades planted evidence to falsely incriminate individuals. Placing a gun at the scene of an occurrence is one example. The difference is if biometrics are "planted" they are biologically unique to you, and you have no reasonable way of disproving that "you did it". And then there's silently denying you. Whether it's a nation's border entity, or perhaps an insurance provider, biometric data can be used to uniquely identify you and connect you to things that *are* legal, but the Administration de jour doesn't "like" (read: LITERALLY RIGHT NOW). Say something to upset the babbis in the white house? Did you give your blood to 23andme? Your fingerprint to a government agency? Yeah, good luck getting in/out of the USA freely. Biometrics needs to be a *global and universal right to refuse*. In that, IMO you must be always able to say "no" and have it be legally binding to *any* entity saying "give me your XYZ biometrics", except _maybe_ if you're a *convicted* criminal. This goes far beyond the whole "I never thought about it that way" problems, this is a you're fucked for life if you give away any of it. It's time we make the time to get ahead of this problem that already exists. Join me.
runlevel1 9mo ago
Global Entry and PreCheck are not going to be the only consequences. The people in these databases are considered to be domestic terrorists. Presidential Memorandum NSPM-7 includes "civil disorder" in its list of acts of "domestic terrorism." Its indicia of "terroristic activities" includes extremely vague language like "anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism" and "extremism on migration, race, and gender" and "hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality".[^1] I sincerely hope that the engineers responsible for these technologies have fully grasped where things seem headed. This country is teetering on a knife's edge. Maybe more precariously than we know. Nobody can know for sure if we've tipped too far until it's too late. The economy cannot thrive in a vacuum of normalcy and stability. If things escalate into something akin to The Troubles... I hope that's factored into their cost-benefit analysis. [^1]: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/countering-domestic-terrorism-and-organized-political-violence/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/coun...
- deaux 9mo ago
  Just know that if you vote for someone like Newsom, awfulness such as this memorandum isn't getting scrapped, and the one who replaces him 4 years later will be someone who's less incompetent and doesn't shit his pants on live television.

So that whole not using facial recognition and deleting the data after use wasn't real. How shocking. You wonder why the NRA has such a strong lobby against gun registration. It's for the same reasons. Political abuse of exercising of rights. By the time this makes it through the courts people will have forgotten.

_DeadFred_ 9mo ago
Reminder what they are doing to the brave Americans who refuse to let the secret police operate in secret (we have the Constitutional right to observe them, we don't do secret police in the USA): https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/30/st-peter-police-chief-intervenes-prevents-federal-agents-from-arresting-resident https://www.mprnews.org/story/2026/01/30/st-peter-police-chi... Chicago Woman Shot 5 Times By Border Agents Will Testify In Washington Next Week https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/01/29/chicago-woman-shot-5-times-by-border-agents-will-testify-in-washington-next-week/ https://blockclubchicago.org/2026/01/29/chicago-woman-shot-5... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBd5qfRe0SY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBd5qfRe0SY Thanks go out to tech for enabling these guys.
JumpCrisscross 9mo ago
> that whole not using facial recognition and deleting the data after use wasn't real What are you referring to?
- blinded 9mo ago
  https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2025/05/20/tsa-facial-recognition-safety/83726603007/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2025/05/20/tsa-fa... "According to the TSA, your information is generally deleted shortly after you pass the screening process and is not used for surveillance purposes."
  - JumpCrisscross 9mo ago
    You submit permanent biometrics as part of PreCheck and Global Entry. DHS is presumably using those data for identification.
    - datsci_est_2015 9mo ago
      Is DHS’s usage against the stated purpose of the biometrics collection? Was there even a stated purpose?
      - lazide 9mo ago
        The stated purpose for biometrics and photos with PreCheck and Global Entry is to identify you, so it’s not likely against its stated purpose to use it for identification, per-se. Now using it to target protesters? Meh.
        datsci_est_2015 9mo ago
        Identify you when though? Important question I guess
        lazide 9mo ago
        The US has been using ICE a lot. Guess who is doing the identifying - CBP and ICE. Guess who runs borders and immigration, which is the use case for PreCheck and Global Entry? Guess what the stated jurisdictional limits are for CBP? 100 miles from any possible border [https://legalclarity.org/immigration-map-of-us-jurisdictional-boundaries/ https://legalclarity.org/immigration-map-of-us-jurisdictiona...]. Guess who has essentially unlimited jurisdictional limits? ICE. So they can pretend they are ‘checking for immigration status’ using the existing photos and biometrics, while simultaneously gathering information on who is at what protest. Then the info gets shared once gathered - with or without plausible deniability - and blam. Bobs your uncle.
        9mo ago

g-b-r 9mo ago

This is a first amendment violation, right?

apgwoz 9mo ago
Yes. Except they are attempting to make the claim that protesters are interfering with federal operations, which is a crime. Therefore, they can try to make the claim that they are only investigating potential involvement in a crime, punish you, and file it under a violation of the terms of service for precheck and global entry. IANAL, etc, but this seems to be the strategy.
- g-b-r 9mo ago
  I don't think that terms of service can override the constitution, in any case
JumpCrisscross 9mo ago
Almost certainly. The law should also be amended to require conviction or settlement, not merely investigation, to revoke someone’s PreCheck or Global Entry status.
- bri3d 9mo ago
  Overall you can have Global Entry revoked for almost anything; one of the clauses is “The applicant has been found in violation of any customs, immigration, or agriculture regulations, procedures, or laws in any country.” which falls dramatically short of a crime or investigation. There are many reports of GE revocation for stuff like failure to declare fruits at checkpoints.
  - metadat 9mo ago
    How is attending a protest a potential violation of customs regulations? This doesn't track.
    - 9mo ago

nerdsniper 9mo ago

Better source? (Maybe?) https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01/ice-protester-says-her-global-entry-was-revoked-after-agent-scanned-her-face/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/01/ice-protester-sa...

datsci_est_2015 9mo ago
Fair. I’ve seen this site posted on HN before, mostly in the context of business travel and tech in the airline industry, so I didn’t consider it too low quality.
loeg 9mo ago
[flagged]

Herring 9mo ago

Reminder that the most reliable way to prevent the rise of the far right is to implement robust safety nets and low inequality, to reduce status anxiety and grievance.

zanecodes 9mo ago
The far right are largely the people voting against robust safety nets and low inequality...
- Herring 9mo ago
  That is true, but there is still the rest of the country, and Trump’s ratings are dropping as everyone finds out they don’t like fascism. I’m hoping we don’t just go back to business as usual.
- steveBK123 9mo ago
  The leaders of the right are against a robust safety net, yes. Populist right voters however hate socialism but also want the government to keep their hands off their medicare and social security.
  - jmye 9mo ago
    And vehemently oppose any expansion of those things to people they want to suffer. Populist right voters hate the idea that there isn’t someone “below” them and will vigorously and violently oppose any attempts to alter the pecking order. Let’s not make excuses, here.
morkalork 9mo ago
This is solid advice for 30-40 years ago but today it's a little too late..
- Herring 9mo ago
  You can also look at it as early for 2070.

SilverElfin 9mo ago

> You can lose Global Entry for complaining about a customs officer. Putting an apple from your flight in your bag, and then not declaring it can cost you your Global Entry. So can attempting a coup against the United States. So, too, now it seems just for protesting against government policy. This is incredibly scary and violating. It’s not in line with due process and our societal values. But I also wonder if the right realizes that they’ve slowly morphed into the same social credit score authoritarianism that they have criticized for years.

kelnos 9mo ago
> It’s not in line with [...] our societal values. The scary thing is that I think it is in line with the social values of a disturbingly sizeable, growing group of Americans.

ChrisArchitect 9mo ago

[dupe] Earlier: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46823261 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46823261

datsci_est_2015 9mo ago
I don’t think that this is a dupe, the ramifications of citizens being removed from Global Entry and PreCheck lists wasn’t part of the NYT article AFAIU. Curious that at its current score and comment count it’s no longer on the front page, despite being neither flagged nor marked as dupe. Edit: guess it’s flipping in between page 1 and 2 per refresh.

BloodyIron 9mo ago

The problem with biometrics, as in biologically unique biometrics (fingerprints, blood, retina, etc) is that once it's in a database, you're fucked *for life*. It's unrealistic to destroy said records with absolute certainty in the entirety of the universe. Data is pervasive, and biometric databases are likely the most lucrative data to sell and share. Biometrics are abusable in so many different ways, I probably don't know them all. But here's some thoughts around that. It's proven that police have for decades planted evidence to falsely incriminate individuals. Placing a gun at the scene of an occurrence is one example. The difference is if biometrics are "planted" they are biologically unique to you, and you have no reasonable way of disproving that "you did it". And then there's silently denying you. Whether it's a nation's border entity, or perhaps an insurance provider, biometric data can be used to uniquely identify you and connect you to things that *are* legal, but the Administration de jour doesn't "like" (read: LITERALLY RIGHT NOW). Say something to upset the babbis in the white house? Did you give your blood to 23andme? Your fingerprint to a government agency? Yeah, good luck getting in/out of the USA freely. Biometrics needs to be a *global and universal right to refuse*. In that, IMO you must be always able to say "no" and have it be legally binding to *any* entity saying "give me your XYZ biometrics", except _maybe_ if you're a *convicted* criminal. This goes far beyond the whole "I never thought about it that way" problems, this is a you're fucked for life if you give away any of it. It's time we make the time to get ahead of this problem that already exists. Join me.

runlevel1 9mo ago

Global Entry and PreCheck are not going to be the only consequences. The people in these databases are considered to be domestic terrorists. Presidential Memorandum NSPM-7 includes "civil disorder" in its list of acts of "domestic terrorism." Its indicia of "terroristic activities" includes extremely vague language like "anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism" and "extremism on migration, race, and gender" and "hostility towards those who hold traditional American views on family, religion, and morality".[^1] I sincerely hope that the engineers responsible for these technologies have fully grasped where things seem headed. This country is teetering on a knife's edge. Maybe more precariously than we know. Nobody can know for sure if we've tipped too far until it's too late. The economy cannot thrive in a vacuum of normalcy and stability. If things escalate into something akin to The Troubles... I hope that's factored into their cost-benefit analysis. [^1]: https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/countering-domestic-terrorism-and-organized-political-violence/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/09/coun...

deaux 9mo ago
Just know that if you vote for someone like Newsom, awfulness such as this memorandum isn't getting scrapped, and the one who replaces him 4 years later will be someone who's less incompetent and doesn't shit his pants on live television.