Investigating ICE’s Use of Mobile Fortify
Mobile Fortify is a facial recognition and data-search tool reportedly used by ICE in the field. The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is seeking records to better understand how this technology is used and what it means for civil rights.
What Is Mobile Fortify?
Mobile Fortify is described as a mobile application that allows ICE agents to identify people using facial recognition technology and search government databases for personal information in real time.
Reports indicate the tool may:
- Match a person’s face against large government databases
- Return personally identifying, sensitive, and immigration-related information
- Collect and store biometric data, including photos and fingerprints
- Capture location data and other personal details
This type of technology represents a significant expansion of government surveillance capabilities.
Why This Matters
The use of biometric surveillance tools raises serious civil rights concerns, especially for Black communities and other communities of color.
Racial bias and inaccuracy
Facial recognition systems have been shown to produce higher error rates for people of color, especially Black individuals and women of color, increasing the risk of misidentification and wrongful detention.
Chilling of protected activity
There are reports that similar technologies have been used to identify or track individuals engaged in First Amendment-protected activity, including protests.
Expansion of government surveillance
Tools like Mobile Fortify allow the government to indiscriminately surveil people in public places, pull information from government databases, and retain sensitive personal data, often without transparency or clear safeguards.
Why We’re Seeking Answers
The Lawyers’ Committee has submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to obtain records about ICE’s use of Mobile Fortify.
We are seeking transparency to:
- Understand how the technology works in practice
- Identify potential civil rights risks and harms
- Inform advocacy and accountability efforts
- Ensure the public has access to critical information about government surveillance
Access to these records will help determine whether legal, policy, or public education responses are needed.
“ICE’s use of Mobile Fortify subjects people, including peaceful demonstrators, to invasive government surveillance. The government's use of Mobile Fortify presents serious risks for Black communities and other communities of color because of ICE's extensive presence in those communities. Facial recognition technology also has been shown to exhibit racial bias. We seek transparency--to expose the administration’s expansion of surveillance infrastructure and check its attack on civil liberties.”
- Leah Frazier, Director, Digital Justice Initiative
What We’re Trying to Learn
The request seeks records that may help answer key public-interest questions:
- How is Mobile Fortify being used in the field?
- What types of data does it collect and store?
- Which government databases does it access?
- Who has access to the information it generates?
- What policies or safeguards govern its use?
- How often is the technology being deployed?
Why Transparency Can’t Wait
When powerful surveillance tools are deployed without public oversight, communities can face harm before there is accountability.
Transparency is essential to:
- Protect civil rights and civil liberties
- Ensure government accountability
- Prevent misuse of emerging technologies
- Inform public understanding and policy reform
About the Digital Justice Initiative
The Digital Justice Initiative works at the intersection of civil rights and emerging technology.
We focus on how surveillance systems, artificial intelligence, and data-driven tools can deepen inequality and what legal and policy solutions are needed to protect communities and uphold civil rights. Explore Our Digital Justice Work
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