CBP & ICE’s Clearview AI Contract: Off Social Media & Onto the Street

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has awarded a fresh contract to Clearview AI, a company notorious for pulling 60 billion images off social media and racking up privacy violations around the world.

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This new contract enables border officers to identify travelers simply by taking their picture. The agreement is slated to go live in September of 2026.

This deal builds on a previous $3.75 million contract ICE secured with the same vendor. That earlier arrangement was marketed as a tool to spot “ICE protestors”—anyone who publicly opposes the agency, interacts with its personnel, or even assaults an officer.

The implication is clear: opposing surveillance makes you a target.

With the new contract in place, the scope widens dramatically. Whether you’re crossing a border checkpoint or simply encountering an ICE agent in a public space, your face can be matched to publicly available photos on social media platforms. In practice, a single selfie could be enough for the agency to flag you as a person of interest.

What you can do

Treat the photos you take as sacred. Avoid using phones that automatically upload your photos to the cloud—instead use de-googled phones like Above Phone. And consider using privacy-friendly platforms instead of big tech social media.

While no single step guarantees safety, a more disciplined digital footprint reduces the data pool that Clearview can exploit.

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