Google · Donald Trump · Data Center · U.S. · Wired
DHS Demanded Google Surrender Data on Canadian’s Activity, Location Over Anti-ICE Posts
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The Department of Homeland Security tried to obtain a Canadian man’s location information, activity logs, and other identifying information from Google after he criticized the Trump administration online following the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis early this year.
Key facts
- The summons, which is included in the complaint, does not give a specific reason for why the man was under investigation beyond citing the Tariff Act of 1930
- The lawsuit alleges that DHS violated the customs law that gives the agency the power to request records from businesses and other parties
- DHS and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment
- Through his attorneys, the man told WIRED he initially mistook the notification for a joke or scam before realizing it was real
Summary
Lawyers for the man, who has not been named, are alarmed in part because they say that the man has not entered the United States in more than a decade. Perloff argues that the government is using the fact that big tech companies are based in the US to request information it would not otherwise be able to get. DHS and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The demand for the man’s location data was included in a request DHS issued to Google called a customs summons, which is supposed to be used to investigate issues related to importing goods and collecting customs duties.