The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inadvertently allowed Chicago police records to remain on a federal server for seven months, violating domestic espionage rules. The data in question was related to gang ties and had been requested by DHS's Office of Intelligence & Analysis (I&A) as part of an experiment to test whether such data could be used to surface undocumented gang members at airport security checkpoints or border crossings.
The records, which included names, addresses, birth dates, and alleged gang affiliations, were originally intended for a limited period only. However, the officer who initiated the request had left his post by January 2022, and it took several months before anyone noticed that the data was still on the server. The lack of awareness among top I&A officials about the ongoing retention of US-person data has raised concerns about oversight failures.
According to internal memos reviewed by WIRED, the dataset was first requested in June 2021 and had been accessed over 32,000 times by immigration officers. The records contained numerous errors, including people purportedly born before 1901 and others who appeared to be infants. Some individuals were listed as gang members but not linked to any particular group.
The incident highlights how federal intelligence agencies can sidestep local sanctuary laws, allowing them to access sensitive data on American citizens without proper oversight. "This is a workaround to so-called sanctuary protections that limit cities like Chicago from direct cooperation with ICE," said Spencer Reynolds, a senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice.
The DHS's budget will soon exceed $191 billion, and its leaders are pursuing technologies to fuse sensitive data across agency systems. The department has been criticized for its lack of transparency and oversight in handling intelligence work. "Robust oversight has long taken a back seat at the department," Reynolds added.
In response to public pressure, Chicago police proposed a new system with published criteria, an appeals process, and a five-year removal rule for anyone without new qualifying offenses. However, it is unclear whether this change was implemented as promised.
The incident raises concerns about how federal agencies are handling sensitive data on American citizens, particularly in the context of immigration enforcement. "Thanks to how the government characterizes people with some connection to a cartel as 'terrorists,' it could impact the lives of millions more people in this country," Reynolds warned.
The records, which included names, addresses, birth dates, and alleged gang affiliations, were originally intended for a limited period only. However, the officer who initiated the request had left his post by January 2022, and it took several months before anyone noticed that the data was still on the server. The lack of awareness among top I&A officials about the ongoing retention of US-person data has raised concerns about oversight failures.
According to internal memos reviewed by WIRED, the dataset was first requested in June 2021 and had been accessed over 32,000 times by immigration officers. The records contained numerous errors, including people purportedly born before 1901 and others who appeared to be infants. Some individuals were listed as gang members but not linked to any particular group.
The incident highlights how federal intelligence agencies can sidestep local sanctuary laws, allowing them to access sensitive data on American citizens without proper oversight. "This is a workaround to so-called sanctuary protections that limit cities like Chicago from direct cooperation with ICE," said Spencer Reynolds, a senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice.
The DHS's budget will soon exceed $191 billion, and its leaders are pursuing technologies to fuse sensitive data across agency systems. The department has been criticized for its lack of transparency and oversight in handling intelligence work. "Robust oversight has long taken a back seat at the department," Reynolds added.
In response to public pressure, Chicago police proposed a new system with published criteria, an appeals process, and a five-year removal rule for anyone without new qualifying offenses. However, it is unclear whether this change was implemented as promised.
The incident raises concerns about how federal agencies are handling sensitive data on American citizens, particularly in the context of immigration enforcement. "Thanks to how the government characterizes people with some connection to a cartel as 'terrorists,' it could impact the lives of millions more people in this country," Reynolds warned.
just think about all those records being left on that server for 7 months... what if someone from DHS saw those records? 
it's not even like they were asking permission, just taking the data for their own experiment. and then to make matters worse, some of that info was wrong, like people supposedly born in the 1800s... 
how did that even happen?
it's like they were too busy trying to figure out how to connect all their data to care about following the rules.
lol idk bout those chicago cops, but i feel bad 4 them cuz they got taken advantage of by some intern who left his post 
anyway, what's up w/ this whole dhs thing? like, isn't that a huge no-no? 
can we talk about something else? did u know that the highest pizza topping in america is actually... pineapple? 
. i mean, $191 billion budget and still no transparency? that's just crazy. and what's with the errors in the data - people born before 1901? infants? some folks are even listed as gang members but not linked to any group 
it's like they're just making it up as they go along.
. the gov needs to get its act together and prioritize transparency and oversight if it wants to trust us to keep our own records straight 
. one thing's for sure, though: the gov needs to get its priorities straight and start putting our rights first 
That'd be a big win, right? 
I'm so messed up right now! A US gov't agency just leaves sensitive Chicago police records on a server for SEVEN MONTHS? That's like, what even is going on?! 
And now we're talking about how this could impact innocent Americans' lives, especially if they have ties to gangs or are wrongly labeled as "terrorists". This is some serious government fail 
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, and yet they can't even get their act together when it comes to handling sensitive data 
. And now they're proposing some new system with published criteria and an appeals process? It sounds like just another way to sweep the issue under the rug 
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. The fact that this incident was even possible highlights some deep-seated issues within our system of law enforcement and intelligence gathering 
. We need to be more careful and more transparent when it comes to handling sensitive data, especially when it involves American citizens 
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The DHS's budget is already massive, and now they want to start fusing data across agency systems... it's getting creepy 
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. We need more transparency and accountability from our government, stat! 
The idea that Chicago police records were left on a federal server for seven months is just, like, wow... what even is the point of having safeguards if they're not being followed? 
It's crazy to think about all those American citizens' info getting mishandled.
This incident highlights how federal agencies are pushing boundaries without proper oversight, and it's giving me major anxiety about what could happen next.
and now this news is making me worried about how our government is handling sensitive info 
. And it's not just that, it's also about how they're handling sensitive data on American citizens, especially in immigration enforcement 
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. And yeah, the budget for DHS is huge, but that doesn't excuse the lack of transparency and accountability 
. This incident raises some serious concerns about how our government is handling sensitive data on American citizens, especially in immigration enforcement