Jump to content

Mobile Fortify

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mobile Fortify is a mobile app used by United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on their government-issued phones. The app allows agents to take a photo in order to gather biometrics, including contactless fingerprints and faceprints, for the purpose of identifying an individual and their potential immigration status.[1][2] The app was created by NEC.[3][4]

History

[edit]

In June 2025, use of Mobile Fortify by ICE was uncovered through leaked emails and the user manual, reported by 404 Media. The app is internally developed, and details of the parent company and developer were initially unknown.[1][2] In January 2026, the DHS's 2025 AI Use Case Inventory revealed the vendor as NEC Corporation,[4] an international conglomerate with subsidiaries in Argentina, Australia, China, India and Malaysia. [3][4]

Later that month, several senators demanded transparency around the app and its origins, and that ICE stop using it.[5][6] A second letter was sent again in November, after hearing no response to the previous letter from ICE.[7]

Technology

[edit]

Unlike other facial recognition software, Fortify uses federally linked databases. By contrast, Clearview AI uses public social media databases [8] for biometric scanning. Federal databases include DHS's automated biometric identification system (IDENT), containing more than 270 million biometric records, and Customs and Border Protection's Traveler Verification Service. The State Department's visa and passport photo database, the FBI's National Crime Information Center, National Law Enforcement Telecommunications Systems, and CBP's TECS and Seized Assets and Case Tracing System (SEACATS).[1][2]

Oversight

[edit]

Several senators urged ICE to stop using the app for fear of infringing on fourth amendment and first amendment rights, and requested details on who developed the app, when it was deployed, whether the app was tested for accuracy, and policies and practices governing its use. On June 2025, they sent an open letter to Todd Lyons, ICE acting director, signed by senators Cory Booker, Chris Van Hollen, Ed Markey, Bernie Sanders, Adam Schiff, [9] Tina Smith, Elizabeth Warren, and Ron Wyden.[6][10][11] On November 3, a second letter was sent to the ICE by senators, after not receiving answers to questions from the previous letter deadlined for October 2.[7]

Criticism

[edit]

Mobile Fortify, and ICE's use of similar biometric identification technologies (such as Mobile Identify, an app similar to Mobile Fortify to be used by local or regional law enforcement to assist in immigration enforcement [12][13]) has faced scrutiny from a variety of digital rights organizations, politicians, and news outlets.[14][15][16][17] The criticism is already considered to potentially be a reason why the similar Mobile Identify app was pulled from the Google Play Store. [18][19][20]

Facial recognition technologies are known to produce false-positives and generally unreliable results, especially on those with darker skin tones.[21][1][22][23][24][25] ICE has already previously mistakenly arrested a U.S. citizen under the belief he was illegally in the country, and later stated that he "could be deported based on biometric confirmation of his identity" prior to his release.[17][26][27]

U.S. representative Bennie Thompson, ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee has previously commented that "ICE officials have told us that an apparent biometric match by Mobile Fortify is a ‘definitive’ determination of a person’s status and that an ICE officer may ignore evidence of American citizenship—including a birth certificate—if the app says the person is an alien," and that "Mobile Fortify is a dangerous tool in the hands of ICE, and it puts American citizens at risk of detention and even deportation," [26][28]

On January 19, 2026, 404 Media reported on a case where a woman, identified in court documents as "MJMA", was scanned by Mobile Fortify twice in the same interaction, and two entirely different names were provided by the app. According to the Innovation Law Lab, whose attorneys are representing MJMA, both of the names were incorrect.[29][30][31][32]

ICE has stated that they will not allow people to decline to be scanned by Mobile Fortify, and that photos taken, even those of U.S. citizens, will be stored for 15 years,[33][16][34][35] something that has been criticized primarily because ICE has not performed a Privacy Impact Assessment (PIA)[36][37] for Mobile Fortify, the right to decline other forms of biometric verification to the U.S. government is often available under other circumstances,[38] and the 15 year window is viewed as unnecessarily large.[15][34]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d Cox ·, Joseph (June 26, 2025). "ICE Is Using a New Facial Recognition App to Identify People, Leaked Emails Show". 404 Media.
  2. ^ a b c Kimery, Anthony (July 17, 2025). "ICE's facial recognition app raises alarms over expansion of domestic surveillance | Biometric Update". www.biometricupdate.com.
  3. ^ a b Dou, Eva; Galocha, Artur; Schaul, Kevin (January 29, 2026). "The powerful tools in ICE's arsenal to track suspects — and protesters". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 29, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  4. ^ a b c Varner, Maddy (January 28, 2026). "Here's the Company That Sold DHS ICE's Notorious Face Recognition App". Wired.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  5. ^ Sandiford, Michele (September 15, 2025). "Lawmakers call on ICE to halt use of facial recognition application". Federal News Network.
  6. ^ a b "Wyden, Merkley and Markey Demand ICE Stop Using Mobile Facial Recognition App" (Press release). U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon. September 11, 2025.
  7. ^ a b Kimery, Anthony (November 4, 2025). "Senators demand ICE halt use of Mobile Fortify app amid growing privacy concerns | Biometric Update". www.biometricupdate.com.
  8. ^ Matsakis, Louise. "Scraping the Web Is a Powerful Tool. Clearview AI Abused It". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  9. ^ "ICYMI: Sen. Schiff Joins Markey, Colleagues to Press ICE Again on Use of Invasive Facial Recognition Surveillance Technology". Senator Schiff. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  10. ^ Sandiford, Michele (September 15, 2025). "Lawmakers call on ICE to halt use of facial recognition application".
  11. ^ "Markey, Wyden, and Merkley Demand ICE Stop Using Mobile Facial Recognition App | U.S. Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts". www.markey.senate.gov. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  12. ^ Cox ·, Joseph (November 4, 2025). "DHS Gives Local Cops a Facial Recognition App To Find Immigrants". 404 Media. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  13. ^ Brodkin, Jon (November 4, 2025). "US gives local police a face-scanning app similar to one used by ICE agents". Ars Technica. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  14. ^ Maass, Dave (November 26, 2025). "Rights Organizations Demand Halt to Mobile Fortify, ICE's Handheld Face Recognition Program". Electronic Frontier Foundation. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  15. ^ a b "EPIC, Coalition Call on ICE To End Its Use of Facial Recognition in the Field". EPIC - Electronic Privacy Information Center. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  16. ^ a b Joffe-Block, Jude (November 8, 2025). "Immigration agents have new technology to identify and track people". NPR. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  17. ^ a b Llanos, Jackie (April 21, 2025). "Feds blame U.S. citizen for his arrest under suspended immigration law • Florida Phoenix". Florida Phoenix. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  18. ^ Cox ·, Joseph (December 5, 2025). "DHS's Immigrant-Hunting App Removed from Google Play Store". 404 Media. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  19. ^ Kimery, Anthony (December 8, 2025). "CBP Mobile Identify app pulled from Google Play Store amid intensifying scrutiny | Biometric Update". www.biometricupdate.com. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  20. ^ "CBP's immigrant facial recognition app disappears from Google Play Store". Newsweek. Archived from the original on January 10, 2026. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  21. ^ Cagle, Marissa Gerchick, Matt (February 7, 2024). "When it Comes to Facial Recognition, There is No Such Thing as a Magic Number | ACLU". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved January 12, 2026.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  22. ^ "Facial Recognition Bias: Why Racism Appears In Face Detection Tech". Mozilla Foundation. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  23. ^ Bellamoroso, Mariah (November 4, 2020). "Why Racial Bias is Prevalent in Facial Recognition Technology". Harvard Journal of Law & Technology. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  24. ^ Asghar, Sohail; Yang, Ming; Ul Islam, Ammad; Khan, Hamza Saeed; Yaqoob, Jahanzaib; Ali, Sardar Ahmad (August 6, 2025). "Face Recognition Toward Dark-Skinned People". 2025 IEEE 20th Conference on Industrial Electronics and Applications (ICIEA): 1–6. doi:10.1109/ICIEA65512.2025.11149050.
  25. ^ "Review of Demographic Fairness in Face Recognition". arxiv.org. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  26. ^ a b Belanger, Ashley (October 29, 2025). "ICE's forced face scans to verify citizens is unconstitutional, lawmakers say". Ars Technica. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  27. ^ https://epic.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/Coalition-Letter-on-ICE-Mobile-Fortify-FRT-Nov2025.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  28. ^ Cox ·, Joseph (October 29, 2025). "ICE and CBP Agents Are Scanning Peoples' Faces on the Street To Verify Citizenship". 404 Media. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  29. ^ Cox ·, Joseph (January 19, 2026). "ICE's Facial Recognition App Misidentified a Woman. Twice". 404 Media. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
  30. ^ "12-03-2025 (Volume 2) M-J-M-A v. Wamsley, et al. FINAL". www.documentcloud.org. Retrieved January 19, 2026.
  31. ^ Kimery, Anthony (January 20, 2026). "Data, quotas, and biometric surveillance are reshaping US immigration enforcement | Biometric Update". www.biometricupdate.com. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  32. ^ Kissam, Edward (January 23, 2026). "ICE's New Data Weapon Threatens Surge in Warrantless Arrests". American Community Media. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  33. ^ Cox ·, Joseph (October 31, 2025). "You Can't Refuse To Be Scanned by ICE's Facial Recognition App, DHS Document Says". 404 Media. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
  34. ^ a b Bayoumi, Moustafa (January 30, 2026). "ICE's surveillance app is a techno-authoritarian nightmare". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  35. ^ "Mobile Fortify PTA". www.documentcloud.org. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  36. ^ Kimery, Anthony (December 17, 2025). "ICE's use of CBP biometric surveillance app built on paper thin oversight | Biometric Update". www.biometricupdate.com. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  37. ^ "Coalition warns DHS that ICE's Mobile Fortify facial recognition app poses serious civil liberties risks". CADE – Civil Society Alliances for Digital Empowerment. Retrieved February 22, 2026.
  38. ^ "Facial Comparison Technology | Transportation Security Administration". U.S. Department of Homeland Security Transportation Security Administration. Retrieved January 12, 2026.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mobile_Fortify&oldid=1341706146"