The Customs and Border Protection (CBP) division of the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is using intrusive AI-powered systems to screen visitors coming into and leaving the nation, according to a document obtained by Motherboard through a freedom of information request this week.
According to this study, the CBP keeps track of US citizens, migrants, and asylum seekers and, in some instances, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to connect people's social media posts to their Social Security numbers and location information.
AI-Powered government surveillance tool
Babel X is the name of the monitoring technology that the government department uses.
Users can enter details, such as a target's name, email address, or phone number, about someone they want to learn more about.
The algorithm then provides a wealth of additional information about that person, including what they may have posted on social media, their employment history, and any related IP addresses.
Software dubbed Babel X, created by a company called Babel Street, combines data that is both publicly and commercially available in more than 200 languages and is allegedly AI-enabled.
In fact, Babel Street announced plans to purchase AI text analysis business Rosette in November of last year. The company said that this would aid its Babel X tool with "identity resolution," which might improve national security and the battle against financial crime.
Freedom activists concerned
Babel data will be used/captured/stored in support of CBP targeting, vetting, operations, and analysis, according to the paper made public by CBP, and will be kept on the organisation's computer systems for 75 years.
According to senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute Carrie DeCell, "the US government's ever-expanding social media dragnet is certain to chill people from engaging in protected speech and association online."
“And CBP’s use of this social media surveillance technology is especially concerning in connection with existing rules requiring millions of visa applicants each year to register their social media handles with the government. As we’ve argued in a related lawsuit, the government simply has no legitimate interest in collecting and retaining such sensitive information on this immense scale."
Patrick Toomey, the ACLU's deputy project director for the national security project, told Motherboard that the document "raises a number of questions about what specific purposes CBP is using social media monitoring for and how that monitoring is actually conducted" in addition to providing important new information.