According to contracting data and government records examined by Motherboard,a cybersecurity portal, the data firm LexisNexis generates millions of dollars offering specialised tools to law enforcement and other U.S. government organisations.
The contracts draw attention to LexisNexis' frequently underappreciated government work, which entails capabilities beyond its standard people-search or article databases accessible to consumers and businesses. One of these is the Virtual Crime Center, a system for connecting open records with internal and external databases from various organisations. The Secret Service purchased licences for the Virtual Crime Center, according to papers obtained by security analysts at Motherboard.
“Today’s law enforcement agencies need a view beyond their own jurisdictions. LexisNexis Accurint Virtual Crime Center brings together disconnected data from over 10,000 different sources, including police agencies nationwide and public records for intelligence-led policing that can then drive decisions and actions,” the website for the Virtual Crime Center reads. The product is sold by LexisNexis under the Accurint name, which the company also uses for its range of government and law enforcement solutions.
As per procurement records, the Secret Service paid roughly $400,000 per year between 2020 and 2022 for access to the Virtual Crime Center. The tool is intended to be a one-stop shop for data searches that would often require a number of different independent platforms.
Security analysts also discovered purchases of Accurint by the State Department, the Food and Drug Administration, the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Department of Navy, and the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. The Intercept has previously reported on ICE's acquisition of LexisNexis data. According to documents obtained by the immigrant rights group Just Futures Law, ICE checked that data more than one million times in just seven months.
A LexisNexis product description for its Accurint data package was obtained by Motherboard through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request. A large portion of such information is also found in LexisNexis' consumer editions, such as business and corporate information. Additionally, it contains information about "relatives, neighbours, and associates," which may be especially useful to police enforcement.
"Relatives, neighbours, and acquaintances information" is seriously concerning, said Zach Edwards, a security researcher who monitors the data trade industry, to Motherboard in an online conversation. By establishing consumer profiles with information about people's intimate personal contacts and making them available to the government for purchase, it would seem that LexisNexis has elevated the idea of "friends and family plans" to a completely disturbing level.
He also mentioned Accurint, which has licences for hunting, fishing, and using firearms. Selling hunting, fishing, and concealed weapon permits is a risky game to play because laws against the sharing of that information exist in nearly half of the states in the United States.