Domestic Surveillance Is Expanding With New, AI-Powered Tools
5/1/202615 min
The Department of Homeland Security is spending hundreds of millions of dollars on tools that give federal agents easy access to personal data and whereabouts of millions of people. WSJ investigative reporter Hannah Critchfield explains the latest on the technology, and how it’s being deployed. Plus, WSJ Supreme Court reporter James Romoser joins to break down the battle over whether geofence warrants are an unconstitutional invasion of privacy.
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First 90 secondsRyan Knutson0:00
Hey, it's Ryan Knutson, host of the Journal podcast, our show about money, business, and power. If you're looking for more deeply reported stories like we share every day, consider becoming a subscriber to the Wall Street Journal. Visit subscribe.wsj.com/thejournal, all lowercase, to subscribe now.
Imani Moise· Host0:18
[upbeat music] Welcome to Tech News Briefing. It's Friday, May first. I'm Imani Moise for the Wall Street Journal. On today's show, we're taking a look at two stories on the state of surveillance in twenty-twenty-six. Up first, this week, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a case that's the latest test of how the Fourth Amendment, the protection against unreasonable searches and seizures, applies in the digital age. But how they'll rule is anybody's guess.
James Romoser· Guest0:47
Listening to Monday's oral argument, it honestly became even tougher to make a prediction.
Imani Moise· Host0:53
Then, the Department of Homeland Security is deploying new high-tech tools to combat illegal immigration. Those tools are also giving federal agents access to the personal data and whereabouts of US citizens.
Hannah Critchfield· Guest1:04
We're in this moment with the Department of Homeland Security where people who used to work there, people who have been impacted by this surveillance, civil rights experts are sort of saying that it's testing the limits of what the department can and cannot do with that surveillance.
Unknown speaker1:21
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