ICE Is Paying Millions to Surveillance Company to Spy on People’s Communications

You really think that's good policy, to flag an article based on someones summary - without reading it? and on top of that recommend others do the same?

I don't see the bigger issue being whether their use of lawful court approved wiretaps is ethical. I think the discussion of whether lawful wiretaps are ethical and should be used by law enforcement was settled long ago with the vast majority agreeing with their use.

I see the bigger issue being whether ICE's law enforcement mission is ethical. Once you accept that it is, which I don't necessarily do, the use of lawful wiretaps to achieve it seems to me to be for most a non-issue.

I agree, but I think it is somewhat unfair to always make it about ICE, when really it's about Congress and the President.

A public employee that does the right thing at great personal cost is a hero, but our elected officials should never put them in that position in the first place. That's where the bulk of the anger belongs--at a legislature that has abdicated way too much of its responsibility and at an elected executive that has taken that delegated authority and used it for things we find unethical. Sure we can save some disappointment and anger for the foot-soldiers but not at the cost of losing site of where most of the blame belongs.

We have protests about companies providing software to ICE, why don't we have any protests about companies providing software to the White House and Congress?

I assume tor browser bundle.

I think Tor Browser Bundle. This looks to be a dark-web page, since the TLD is .onion.

At least if it was the federal agencies own efforts, they would not be able to sidestep due-process by ‘outsourcing’.

> I don't want the federal government involved in "law enforcement," full stop. It's not their job.

That is a broad cut if you just don't agree with ICE. There are tons of federal LEOs that do the jobs states and local governments can't.

The US Marshall Service - Witness protection and relocation to other states. Rounding up fugitives from the federal judicial system.

US Secret Service - which state should protect the US currency and our elected officials?

BLM / National Ranger Service - who protects and enforces laws on lands specifically owned by the federal government?

State Department, Diplomatic Security Service - what about visiting foreign dignitaries?

United States Capitol Police - DC is a sovereign district. Should it be policed by a neighboring state?

USPS Postal Police - investigates crimes committed using the mail service, which often crosses state borders.

DoE/NRE Protective Units - Who should have ultimate control over nuclear warheads in transit? Texas? California?

Well what is the precise, distinct problem with them using a private contractor to do this? The contractor is collecting information which is public, and relaying information which may indicate that there is a case that ICE could pursue.

As far as I am aware, ICE already did this form of OSI in-house, but probably less effectively.

> >(A)ICE is also known to be monitoring people sympathetic to enforcing immigrants’ rights, labelling them as “Anti-Trump” protestors.

ICE working with this contractor is not what would cause them to monitor "people sympathetic to enforcing immigrants’ rights"†.

† Also, I think the quoted material is a bit too reductive: although there has been a move away from the phrase "illegal alien" since people have started associating the word with space aliens or something, there remains a pretty clear delineation between immigrants generally, and illegal aliens. I suspect that ICE is interested particularly in monitoring people who are endorsing an unlawful act[0], and likely to be providing material support for such an act. I suspect they are considerably less interested in people who, for example, help lawful resident aliens gain access to legal resources or social support.

[0]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/8/1325