Thumbs up, or thumbs down: that's the option presented to analysts when the tool Giant Oak Search Technology surfaces content from social media and other sources for ICE to scrutinize.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has used a system called Giant Oak Search Technology (GOST) to help the agency scrutinize social media posts, determine if they are “derogatory” to the U.S., and then use that information as part of immigration enforcement, according to a new cache of documents reviewed by 404 Media.

The documents peel back the curtain on a powerful system, both in a technological and a policy sense—how information is processed and used to decide who is allowed to remain in the country and who is not.

  • phillaholic
    -2•1 year ago

    These are indexing publicly available social media posts aren’t they? It’s not a policy matter if you’re voluntarily offering it to everyone.

    • @captainlezbian
      10•1 year ago

      This is the country where free speech is something the government is supposed to not retaliate against right?

      • phillaholic
        1•1 year ago

        This is Immigration. People are voluntarily applying to come to the US. Their public social media posts being reviewed isn’t a privacy violation. Even if it’s done on US citizens, it’s public information. Regardless on whether it’s a good idea or not, it’s not a privacy issue. You’re voluntarily giving up the privacy of the information you do and say in public. If they utilize non-public information then you have an argument.