Editorial illustration for CBP signs Clearview AI contract for tactical targeting amid DHS scrutiny
ICE Expands Facial Recognition with $9M Clearview Deal
CBP signs Clearview AI contract for tactical targeting amid DHS scrutiny
The check from Customs and Border Protection is already signed, payable to Clearview AI. For a face-search engine. Its database: billions of photos hoovered from the public web, no permission asked.
Federal contracts keep flowing. This one, for “tactical targeting,” uses a deliberately open-ended Pentagon phrase—a signal the tool is shifting from solving crimes to guiding operations. It lands amid a roaring debate over Homeland Security’s facial recognition sprawl, from airport queues to city streets.
At stake is the nature of the thing itself. A specialized instrument? Or standard, silent infrastructure.
The Clearview contract lands as the Department of Homeland Security faces mounting scrutiny over how face recognition is used in federal enforcement operations far beyond the border, including large-scale actions in US cities that have swept up US citizens. Civil liberties groups and lawmakers have questioned whether face-search tools are being deployed as routine intelligence infrastructure, rather than limited investigative aids, and whether safeguards have kept pace with expansion. Last week, Senator Ed Markey introduced legislation that would bar ICE and CBP from using face recognition technology altogether, citing concerns that biometric surveillance is being embedded without clear limits, transparency, or public consent.
CBP did not immediately respond to questions about how Clearview would be integrated into its systems, what types of images agents are authorized to upload, and whether searches may include US citizens. Clearview's business model has drawn scrutiny because it relies on scraping photos from public websites at scale.
Senator Ed Markey’s bill to ban the technology is a direct counterpunch. It also reveals the gap. Policy lags.
Practice accelerates. Take CBP’s non-answers to WIRED’s basic questions—what images agents can use, whether citizens are fair game. That silence speaks.
They’ve bought a radical tool built on a contested legal theory, and they feel no need to explain its deployment. The tech is operational. The habits are hardening now.
The meaningful oversight? Missing.
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Common Questions Answered
What is the Mobile Fortify app used by DHS for facial recognition?
[idtechwire.com](https://idtechwire.com/dhs-facial-recognition-app-draws-from-1-2-billion-image-database/) reports that Mobile Fortify is a smartphone app used by ICE agents to capture facial images and fingerprints, instantly querying multiple federal biometric repositories. The app draws from a massive database of 1.2 billion face images and allows officers to collect biometric data while detaining suspected undocumented immigrants and protesters.
How long does DHS retain biometric data collected through the Mobile Fortify app?
According to the [idtechwire.com](https://idtechwire.com/dhs-facial-recognition-app-draws-from-1-2-billion-image-database/) article, DHS retains all biometric data collected through the Mobile Fortify app for 15 years. Illinois and Chicago have filed a lawsuit describing this as creating a 'de facto interior biometric registry untethered from warrants, consent, or individualized suspicion'.
What legislative efforts are being made to challenge ICE's surveillance expansion?
[biometricupdate.com](https://www.biometricupdate.com/202602/lawmakers-challenge-ice-surveillance-expansion-as-questions-mount-over-dhs-oversight) reports that U.S. Rep. Chellie Pingree introduced the Stop ICE Intimidation Act to block funding for expanded ICE surveillance tools. The legislation would freeze ICE's contract with Clearview AI and require detailed disclosures about how the agency uses databases and biometric technologies, including who is targeted and how long data is retained.
Further Reading
- ICE awards Clearview AI $9.2M facial recognition contract — Biometric Update
- ICE contracts with Clearview AI for facial-recognition technology — Immigration Policy Tracking Project
- ICE Awards $9.2 Million Clearview AI Contract for Facial Recognition Investigations — ID Tech Wire
- DHS AI Surveillance Arsenal Grows as Agency Defies Courts — Tech Policy Press
- Warner, Kaine Demand Investigation into DHS Use of Surveillance Technology — Senator Kaine's Office
