**The Dark Side of Cellular Fortify: A Face-Recognition App Gone Rogue**
I’m still reeling from the shocking news about Cellular Fortify, a face-recognition app used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP). What’s even more alarming is that this app has been found to be woefully inaccurate in identifying individuals. I mean, can you imagine being stopped by federal agents and having your identity confirmed or rejected by a system that’s proven to be unreliable? It’s a system that’s supposed to confirm identities, but it can’t even do that.
I recently spoke with Nathan Wessler, the deputy director of the ACLU’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, who emphasized that “every producer of this technology, every police department with a policy makes very clear that face recognition technology isn’t able to provide a positive identification, that it makes errors, and that it’s only for producing leads.” It’s a crucial point that’s been ignored by DHS, which has declined to provide details on the strategies and tools being used by agents.
The app was launched as part of a plan to “identify or confirm” the identities of individuals stopped or detained by DHS officers during federal operations. But what’s happened is that the app was deployed without the scrutiny that has traditionally governed the rollout of technologies that impact people’s privacy. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security has quietly removed department-wide limits on facial recognition, allowing agents to use the technology without proper oversight.
But that’s not even the most disturbing part. What’s truly chilling is that Cellular Fortify has been used not just to scan the faces of “targeted individuals,” but also those of US citizens and individuals who were simply observing or protesting enforcement activity. In some cases, agents have told residents that they were being recorded with facial recognition and that their faces would be added to a database without their consent.
I’ve also come across reports that agents have been using Cellular Fortify to escalate encounters based on an individual’s accent, perceived ethnicity, or skin color. For example, a woman was detained for her accent and then subjected to a second face scan after agents rated the first match as “a possibly.” This highlights a broader shift in DHS enforcement towards low-level street encounters followed by biometric capture like face scans, with limited transparency about the device’s operation and use.
The technology used in Cellular Fortify allows DHS to generate non-consensual face prints of individuals who may be US citizens or lawful permanent residents. And it’s not just the technology that’s the issue – the way it’s being used is also deeply concerning. I’ve seen a federal lawsuit this month, where attorneys for the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago claimed the app had been used “in the field over 100,000 times” since its launch.
In one particularly chilling instance, an agent testified that two photos of a woman in custody taken with Cellular Fortify produced different identities. The woman was handcuffed and looking down, prompting the agent to physically reposition her to get the first photo. The app returned a name and photo of a woman named Maria, which the agent rated as “a possibly.” When she failed to respond, they took another photo, which also produced a potential match. But the agent didn’t know how confident the system was in the match.
The use of Cellular Fortify raises serious concerns about the misuse of facial recognition technology and the potential for abuse of power by law enforcement. It’s time for DHS to come clean about the strategies and tools being used by agents and to ensure that the technology is used in a transparent and accountable manner.
**Sources:**
* [Wired: CBP, ICE, DHS are Using Face-Recognition App to Verify Identity](https://www.wired.com/story/cbp-ice-dhs-mobile-fortify-face-recognition-verify-identity/)
* [ACLU: Face Recognition Technology](https://www.aclu.org/points/privacy-technology/facial-recognition-technology)
* [EPIC: Mobile Fortify](https://epic.org/privacy/facial_recognition/mobile-fortify/)
