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Airlines Are Selling Your Data to ICE (jacobin.com)
submitted 4 days ago by Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee to c/privacy@lemmy.ml
43 comments fedilink hide all child comments

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/29414662

A massive aviation industry clearinghouse that processes data for twelve billion passenger flights per year is selling that information to the Trump administration amid the White House’s new immigration crackdown, according to documents reviewed by the Lever.

The data — including “full flight itineraries, passenger name records, and financial details, which are otherwise difficult or impossible to obtain” for past and future flights — is fed into a secretive government intelligence operation called the Travel Intelligence Program and provided to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and other federal agencies, records reveal.

Details of this program were outlined in procurement documents released Wednesday by ICE, which is a division of the Department of Homeland Security.

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[-] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 3 points 1 day ago

Literally every single online company is giving your data to law enforcement, often including real-time access.

This is the thing that Snowden leaked.

Facebook, Gmail, your cellular provider, Amazon, Credit Card companies, your bank, etc. They're all systems that law enforcement intelligence can access, probably without a subpoena (a business can choose to give up business records since they own them, you don't own 'your data').

If you're doing something online, or on your phone, you should pretend that there's a law enforcement officer sitting and reading over your shoulder because they effectively are. If they ever has cause to look at you they'll pull the history of your account (possibly limited to 30 days back but there's no guarantee of this) and see everything you've ever written and posted included things that you deleted.

If you did anything illegal they can use this information to start a new investigation, in addition to whatever investigation that led them to your account. This can allow them access to even more accounts.

So, if you're using any commercial service that holds your data, you should assume that a law enforcement officer is combing through your information and trying to find something to charge you with.

You should not use commercial services if you're in the US. I know I'm preaching to the choir in this community, but sometimes people need to see it written in black and white.

[-] untorquer@lemmy.world 6 points 2 days ago

[-] Zerush@lemmy.ml 4 points 2 days ago

Except if you are rich, traveling in business class or private jet.

[-] Zacryon@feddit.org 44 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

dO yoU hAVe sOMeTHinG tO hIDe?

That's why we need strong fucking privacy laws.

[-] Grapho@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 days ago

Y'all already have the one constitutional right that'll solve this

[-] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

I am not American. But given that I have flown on at least one of those airlines. I didn't normally fly to the US, but it did happen. Meaning now ICE has my info on those.

The laws need to be updated to be as hard, if not harder, on private companies. And absolutely no 'agree to this or you don't get to use our product' bullshit.

[-] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 2 points 3 days ago

The privacy laws don't apply to private companies, and that is the problem. When many privacy rights were written they were originally intended entirely for governments as private individuals and companies generally didn't have the ability to do much in those days. But my god have things changed.

[-] knfrmity@lemmygrad.ml 3 points 4 days ago

Yes, as the Trump admin clearly proves, they follow the law to the letter.

/s

[-] Corduroy_Pillows_Making_Headlines@hexbear.net 3 points 2 days ago

I see from the company's privacy page that people in "protected" states can have their data removed, but I assume that's only data used for advertising/marketing...not data collected/shared for the purpose of tossing you out of the country. Anyone know if there's a way to exclude yourself from this database? (I doubt it since they're saying it's for legal purposes, but you never know.)

[-] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 30 points 4 days ago

You pay them money for a service but that ain't enough 🤡

[-] Rozz@lemmy.sdf.org 29 points 4 days ago

They try to upsell every little thing. I'm surprised that isn't an option - "don't sell my data to ICE: $100"

[-] Grapho@lemmy.ml 9 points 3 days ago

And then they'd just sell it anyway because who the fuck is gonna do anything to them

[-] biofaust@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

I don't think airlines make any real money from the flights.

[-] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 14 points 4 days ago

Grocery stores in the US have thin margins too 🤡

Somehow lidl and aldi are able to enter US market and compete on price anyway.

Sounds like a skill issue tbh

[-] MintyFresh@lemmy.world 2 points 3 days ago

Aldi's is the shit

[-] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 2 points 3 days ago

Esp if you are low income American...

Imagine instead of slop dollar store, you have access to a place that sells actual food...

But American clown capitalism can't supply the poors with food 🤡

[-] MintyFresh@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

And they receive how many subsidies? Would be unviable without massive public infrastructure? Without air traffic control? How many bailouts has the industry received?

It's practically a socialist institution at this point, can we not just pull that bandaid and either nationalize it or cut the subsidies all together? Not to mention the carbon impact of so many flights all the godamn time is having.

[-] biofaust@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

I am talking about Europe now:

we need trains. We need to unify the rail systems (rail width and electrical tensions) and the ticket systems. Europe could be easily served using a network of night train routes.

I think there should be way more political discourse about rail in the EU, but, for example in Italy, airports have been used as electoral campaigning devices.

[-] skarn@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 4 days ago

They do in Europe. And the flight is somehow still cheaper.

But in the US the doors fall off the plane, the ticket is overpriced, but they somehow still lose money which they have to recoup by selling airmiles to credit cards and your data to ICE.

There is a lot I really don't get about the US flight industry. Only explanation that makes sense is lack of competition due excessive consolidation with antitrust asleep at the wheel.

[-] Grapho@lemmy.ml 4 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

They have "thin margins" because the C suite charges about 50k per email sent. Fucking parasites.

[-] skarn@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Parasites for sure but...

Delta has 60 billions revenue.

Unless the C suite earns a couple billion per person, that's not what's preventing it from flying planes profitably.

[-] biofaust@lemmy.world 1 points 3 days ago

Please notice I said real money. Of course they make some money from the tickets, but the highest number I could find is 60% of revenue, and you have to calculate that it is a hyper-regulated seasonal industry.

[-] skarn@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 2 days ago

I have heard many times the claim that they couldn't break even based on ticket price alone.

It is also possible that this was true once, but not anymore, especially given how consolidated, anticompetitive, and therefore overpriced, that industry has become.

[-] MonkderVierte@lemmy.ml 18 points 4 days ago

United Empire of America.

[-] reagansrottencorpse@lemmy.ml 22 points 4 days ago

I don't like that.

[-] floo@retrolemmy.com 11 points 4 days ago

OK… We all knew this in 2004.

Is it suddenly more outrageous now?

[-] queermunist@lemmy.ml 29 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

It was bad in 2004 too, people just didn't realize that ICE was the Gestapo back then.

The mask is off. That's all.

[-] floo@retrolemmy.com 7 points 4 days ago

You’re right that shit was also bad in 2004. But at that time, ICE had only existed for less than a year, so they were not the ones who were the Gestapo at the time. That was Homeland security, the DEA, and the FBI. In fact, homeland security was also extremely new, so it was mostly just the FBI, the DEA, and, degree, the NSA.

I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just saying that ice wasn’t really fully formed as an agency in 2004 like it is today, so if anyone was the Gestapo, they were probably not it. Not in 2004.

[-] FauxLiving@lemmy.world 1 points 1 day ago

They used this access to suppress the Occupy Wall Street protests, including targeting the online activists, by designating it a 'counter-terrorism' operation.

If you participated in these protests online you'd suddenly find that the DEA knew about your marijuana use, the IRS decided that not filing your taxes was a criminal charge and your state and county police would receive 'anonymous tips' about any state laws that you were violating.

This was all because DHS intelligence services were combing through the online records of anybody that they could remotely link to these protests.

[-] queermunist@lemmy.ml 11 points 4 days ago

ICE is under Homeland Security. Besides, being new doesn't really make them not the Gestapo. The Gestapo was new at one point as well after all.

[-] rumba@lemmy.zip -1 points 4 days ago

Communities weren't gathering around women trying to protect their baby while I stretch to drag them away.

Things aren't quite the same as they were in 2004.

[-] floo@retrolemmy.com 0 points 4 days ago

I’m not entirely sure what you’re trying to say here, but shit was definitely just as bad in 2004. If you were around then, you should know. Shit has sucked here for a long time.

[-] rumba@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 days ago

No, things are far worse, every day it's a new low at the moment, to try to argue otherwise is simply not in good faith. Shit, didn't they haul off some parents from a car yesterday and leave the kids int he car unsupervised?

I hope they know, that when this shit is all over "I was just following orders" will NOT keep them from prison.

[-] blakcod@lemmy.ca 10 points 4 days ago

Tell me something we didn’t already know. Fuck I could live in the remote… fuck it you can’t be hidden or private anymore

[-] wuphysics87@lemmy.ml 4 points 4 days ago

I noticed when you go through security now, they scan your face witg 2 cameras instead of 1. Is that related? Why do they do that?

[-] Corduroy_Pillows_Making_Headlines@hexbear.net 2 points 2 days ago

I didn't notice that, but I DO know you can opt out of those scans. I do it every time. I was told by one security agent that they don't store the images, but that doesn't mean they won't do so in the future! Also, during their beta, biometric data of many passengers was exposed through a breach.

[-] wuphysics87@lemmy.ml 1 points 2 days ago

What do you tell them when you opt out?

[-] Corduroy_Pillows_Making_Headlines@hexbear.net 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

I say, (while out of range of the camera), "I'd like to opt out of the biometric scan, please." I also opt out my kid if they're with me.

I rarely get a blink. (There are signs saying you're allowed to opt out.) Though I wonder if/how that will change with RealID! I didn't get one because as of right now you can still use your passport, but I know they want everyone to have one.

ETA I have a whole section on this in the free book DISENGAGE: Opting Out—and Finding New Options—to Reclaim Your Life from Spammers, Scammers, Intrusive Marketers and Big Tech.

[-] TinyShonk@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

Maybe it helps with getting a 3d scan

[-] wuphysics87@lemmy.ml 2 points 3 days ago

That's what I'm thinking

[-] Phoenicianpirate@lemm.ee 3 points 4 days ago

Mugshot? Getting you up front and in profile?

[-] cabron_offsets@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

Yet another reason not to travel.

[-] DieserTypMatthias@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 days ago

Maybe over the Atlantic.

this post was submitted on 10 May 2025
317 points (98.5% liked)

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