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ICE's Facial Recognition App Misidentified a Woman. Twice -- 404 Media
https://www.404media.co/ices-facial-recognition-app-misidentified-a-woman-twice/In testimony from a CBP official obtained by 404 Media, the official described how Mobile Fortify returned two different names after scanning a woman's face during an immigration raid. ICE has said the app's results are a "definitive" determination of someone's immigration status.
When authorities used Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) facial recognition app on a detained woman in an attempt to learn her identity and immigration status, it returned two different and incorrect names, raising serious questions about the accuracy of the app ICE is using to determine who should be removed from the United States, according to testimony from a Customs and Border Protection (CBP) official obtained by 404 Media.
ICE has told lawmakers the app, called Mobile Fortify, provides a "definitive" determination of someone's immigration status, and should be trusted over a birth certificate. The incident, which happened last year in Oregon, casts doubt on that claim.
"ICE has treated Mobile Fortify like it's a 100% accurate record retrieval system of everybody's immigration status for the entire population of the U.S. when this is obviously not true, and could never be true from a technical perspective," Cooper Quintin, a security researcher and senior public interest technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told 404 Media. "It is sickening that ICE is using this flawed app and unacceptable invasion of biometric privacy to supposedly determine whether someone is undocumented and deport them or even worse."
The incident involved a 45-year-old woman who court records call MJMA. She was detained with more than 30 other people during a raid in Woodburn after authorities smashed a van's driver side window and pulled her from the vehicle. MJMA is now suing ICE and being represented by attorneys from the Innovation Law Lab.
. . .
ICE has told lawmakers the app, called Mobile Fortify, provides a "definitive" determination of someone's immigration status, and should be trusted over a birth certificate. The incident, which happened last year in Oregon, casts doubt on that claim.
"ICE has treated Mobile Fortify like it's a 100% accurate record retrieval system of everybody's immigration status for the entire population of the U.S. when this is obviously not true, and could never be true from a technical perspective," Cooper Quintin, a security researcher and senior public interest technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told 404 Media. "It is sickening that ICE is using this flawed app and unacceptable invasion of biometric privacy to supposedly determine whether someone is undocumented and deport them or even worse."
The incident involved a 45-year-old woman who court records call MJMA. She was detained with more than 30 other people during a raid in Woodburn after authorities smashed a van's driver side window and pulled her from the vehicle. MJMA is now suing ICE and being represented by attorneys from the Innovation Law Lab.
. . .
Sounds like CPB/DHS/ICE/someone has a sweetheart deal with the manufacturer of Mobile Fortify. Money is to be made in this racket.