Jake Laperruque
@jakelaperruque.bsky.social
Center for Democracy & Technology Deputy Director on Surveillance, privacy and 4th Amendment expert
Focused on tech, privacy, and surveillance: AI, FISA, facial recognition, location tracking, drones (Also cooking, movies, and baseball)
Focused on tech, privacy, and surveillance: AI, FISA, facial recognition, location tracking, drones (Also cooking, movies, and baseball)
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
CNN confirms what MSNBC reported live a few hours ago: DOJ is surveilling Dem lawmakers when they go to the DOJ to search unredacted Epstein files.
CNN: "Another photograph - these are notes AG Bondi brought to the hearing today. This shows a list of Rep. Jayapal's search history. Lawmakers are allowed to go to a DOJ facility to search unredacted files. We learned from this photo that the searches are apparently being tracked & read by the DOJ"
February 11, 2026 at 9:36 PM
CNN confirms what MSNBC reported live a few hours ago: DOJ is surveilling Dem lawmakers when they go to the DOJ to search unredacted Epstein files.
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
NEW: ICE is crashing the US court system in Minnesota. Thanks to Trump's push to detain an unprecedented number of people, and its attempt to kill bond hearings, petitions to secure people's release from custody have skyrocketed. @regret.bsky.social w/ the scoop: www.wired.com/story/ice-cr...
February 11, 2026 at 9:26 PM
NEW: ICE is crashing the US court system in Minnesota. Thanks to Trump's push to detain an unprecedented number of people, and its attempt to kill bond hearings, petitions to secure people's release from custody have skyrocketed. @regret.bsky.social w/ the scoop: www.wired.com/story/ice-cr...
Some surveillance news to keep an eye on:
A bipartisan group of Senators are preparing to introduce a FISA 702 reform bill. The law is set to expire in 2 months...
www.nextgov.com/policy/2026/...
A bipartisan group of Senators are preparing to introduce a FISA 702 reform bill. The law is set to expire in 2 months...
www.nextgov.com/policy/2026/...
Senators to revive reform effort for controversial spying law
The proposed changes to Section 702 of FISA would mandate warrants for searches of U.S. person communications and revisit a 2024 provision that critics say widened the government’s surveillance reach.
www.nextgov.com
February 11, 2026 at 10:01 PM
Some surveillance news to keep an eye on:
A bipartisan group of Senators are preparing to introduce a FISA 702 reform bill. The law is set to expire in 2 months...
www.nextgov.com/policy/2026/...
A bipartisan group of Senators are preparing to introduce a FISA 702 reform bill. The law is set to expire in 2 months...
www.nextgov.com/policy/2026/...
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
Typically, the humiliation of a no-bill is that prosecutors could not persuade a *majority* of grand jurors to indict on a relatively low burden of proof.
Every single grand juror knew this case was a disgrace, per this reporting. 🔽
Every single grand juror knew this case was a disgrace, per this reporting. 🔽
No grand jurors found the Trump DOJ met low probable cause threshold in failed indictment of Democratic lawmakers
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
No grand jurors found the Trump DOJ met low probable cause threshold in failed indictment of Democratic lawmakers
None of the D.C. grand jurors who heard the Trump administration’s pitch on why they should indict Democratic lawmakers over a video urging members of the
www.nbcnews.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:43 PM
Typically, the humiliation of a no-bill is that prosecutors could not persuade a *majority* of grand jurors to indict on a relatively low burden of proof.
Every single grand juror knew this case was a disgrace, per this reporting. 🔽
Every single grand juror knew this case was a disgrace, per this reporting. 🔽
New reporting indicated El Paso airport closure was due to use of counter-drone technology
Congress has for years been kicking the can on updating counter-drone authorities and enacting stronger oversight and accountability measures CDT, EFF, EPIC, and ACLU have called for
Congress has for years been kicking the can on updating counter-drone authorities and enacting stronger oversight and accountability measures CDT, EFF, EPIC, and ACLU have called for
Military’s Use of Anti-Drone Technology Said to Cause El Paso Airspace Closure
www.nytimes.com
February 11, 2026 at 9:07 PM
New reporting indicated El Paso airport closure was due to use of counter-drone technology
Congress has for years been kicking the can on updating counter-drone authorities and enacting stronger oversight and accountability measures CDT, EFF, EPIC, and ACLU have called for
Congress has for years been kicking the can on updating counter-drone authorities and enacting stronger oversight and accountability measures CDT, EFF, EPIC, and ACLU have called for
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
Here's the history of what Clearview AI is:
February 11, 2026 at 8:39 PM
Here's the history of what Clearview AI is:
Excited to have my first piece out as a @techpolicypress.bsky.social Fellow:
Outlining the vast surveillance powers ICE can use to monitor protesters, and how you can fight back to change the law, build new safeguards, and protect your privacy
Outlining the vast surveillance powers ICE can use to monitor protesters, and how you can fight back to change the law, build new safeguards, and protect your privacy
How ICE Will Spy On Protesters, And How You Can Protect Your Privacy
Jake Laperruque explains how ICE’s expanding surveillance tools can track protesters through phones, faces, and vehicles.
www.techpolicy.press
February 11, 2026 at 8:31 PM
Excited to have my first piece out as a @techpolicypress.bsky.social Fellow:
Outlining the vast surveillance powers ICE can use to monitor protesters, and how you can fight back to change the law, build new safeguards, and protect your privacy
Outlining the vast surveillance powers ICE can use to monitor protesters, and how you can fight back to change the law, build new safeguards, and protect your privacy
Setting aside that you don't show your ID to get on a train ...
ICE stated policy is that it can use a (unreliable) facial recognition scan as the sole basis to ID someone for detainment, and can even have that facial recognition scan override documents you have indicating citizenship/lawful status
ICE stated policy is that it can use a (unreliable) facial recognition scan as the sole basis to ID someone for detainment, and can even have that facial recognition scan override documents you have indicating citizenship/lawful status
Markwayne Mullin defends "show me your papers": "If you're here legally, there's nothing to hide. Most people already are walking around with a government-issued ID, meaning your Real ID or your driver's license. If you go board a train here, you gotta show your ID."
February 11, 2026 at 6:52 PM
Setting aside that you don't show your ID to get on a train ...
ICE stated policy is that it can use a (unreliable) facial recognition scan as the sole basis to ID someone for detainment, and can even have that facial recognition scan override documents you have indicating citizenship/lawful status
ICE stated policy is that it can use a (unreliable) facial recognition scan as the sole basis to ID someone for detainment, and can even have that facial recognition scan override documents you have indicating citizenship/lawful status
A huge and alarming expansion of DHS use of facial recognition, and one that seems ripe for abuse to go after protesters and dissent
NEW: CBP signs a new deal with Clearview AI to access its scraped image database for "tactical targeting," including efforts to “disrupt, degrade, and dismantle” networks of people labeled security threats.
CBP Signs Clearview AI Deal to Use Face Recognition for ‘Tactical Targeting’
US Border Patrol intelligence units will gain access to a face recognition tool built on billions of images scraped from the internet.
www.wired.com
February 11, 2026 at 6:24 PM
A huge and alarming expansion of DHS use of facial recognition, and one that seems ripe for abuse to go after protesters and dissent
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
the statute that Jeanine Pirro reportedly tried to indict congressional Dems under, 18 USC 2387, was originally passed as part of the 1947 Smith Act, a notorious law used to clamp down on free speech during the Red Scare
They tried to prosecute members of Congress under the Smith Act. Absolute scenes
February 11, 2026 at 2:37 AM
the statute that Jeanine Pirro reportedly tried to indict congressional Dems under, 18 USC 2387, was originally passed as part of the 1947 Smith Act, a notorious law used to clamp down on free speech during the Red Scare
Oh fun it's that terrifying Synthetic CDO scene from Big Short but now everyone can do it
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxr_...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxr_...
February 10, 2026 at 10:24 PM
Oh fun it's that terrifying Synthetic CDO scene from Big Short but now everyone can do it
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxr_...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxr_...
Wait, Are We The Baddies™
February 10, 2026 at 8:20 PM
Wait, Are We The Baddies™
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
NEW: ICE has a plan to lease offices across the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next
ICE plans to lease offices throughout the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign. WIRED is publishing dozens of these locations.
www.wired.com
February 10, 2026 at 4:13 PM
NEW: ICE has a plan to lease offices across the US as part of a secret, months-long expansion campaign.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
Today, @wired.com is publishing dozens of those locations. Many are near schools, medical offices, and places of worship.
Vital work from @leahfeiger.bsky.social that I'm proud to publish.
The vagueness and contradictions on surveillance is part of the point.
The idea of The Panopticon isn't actually an all-seeing surveillance system, it's that the government can control people by making them constantly feel watched and spied on, even when they don't have capacity to do that.
The idea of The Panopticon isn't actually an all-seeing surveillance system, it's that the government can control people by making them constantly feel watched and spied on, even when they don't have capacity to do that.
REP. CORREA: One of your officers in Maine said to a protester, "We're gonna put your face in a little database." Do you?
ICE DIRECTOR: No sir, we don't.
CORREA: Then why do you think your ICE agent said those statements?
ICE DIRECTOR: I can't speak for that individual.
ICE DIRECTOR: No sir, we don't.
CORREA: Then why do you think your ICE agent said those statements?
ICE DIRECTOR: I can't speak for that individual.
February 10, 2026 at 6:52 PM
The vagueness and contradictions on surveillance is part of the point.
The idea of The Panopticon isn't actually an all-seeing surveillance system, it's that the government can control people by making them constantly feel watched and spied on, even when they don't have capacity to do that.
The idea of The Panopticon isn't actually an all-seeing surveillance system, it's that the government can control people by making them constantly feel watched and spied on, even when they don't have capacity to do that.
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
REP. CORREA: One of your officers in Maine said to a protester, "We're gonna put your face in a little database." Do you?
ICE DIRECTOR: No sir, we don't.
CORREA: Then why do you think your ICE agent said those statements?
ICE DIRECTOR: I can't speak for that individual.
ICE DIRECTOR: No sir, we don't.
CORREA: Then why do you think your ICE agent said those statements?
ICE DIRECTOR: I can't speak for that individual.
February 10, 2026 at 6:41 PM
REP. CORREA: One of your officers in Maine said to a protester, "We're gonna put your face in a little database." Do you?
ICE DIRECTOR: No sir, we don't.
CORREA: Then why do you think your ICE agent said those statements?
ICE DIRECTOR: I can't speak for that individual.
ICE DIRECTOR: No sir, we don't.
CORREA: Then why do you think your ICE agent said those statements?
ICE DIRECTOR: I can't speak for that individual.
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
The Trump administration is cracking down on Americans who protest its immigration raids, the government is charging people with assaulting or impeding federal agents at a rate even faster than after the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol.
www.reuters.com/world/us/ice...
www.reuters.com/world/us/ice...
February 10, 2026 at 2:14 PM
The Trump administration is cracking down on Americans who protest its immigration raids, the government is charging people with assaulting or impeding federal agents at a rate even faster than after the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol.
www.reuters.com/world/us/ice...
www.reuters.com/world/us/ice...
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
Yesterday the Washington Post rid itself of Publisher and Chief Executive Will Lewis. If you're interested in those events and their tumultuous background, I would recommend this detailed account from NPR's @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social
No paywall. www.npr.org/2026/02/07/n...
No paywall. www.npr.org/2026/02/07/n...
'Washington Post' CEO departs after going AWOL during massive job cuts
Washington Post chief executive and publisher Will Lewis has departed just days after the newspaper announced massive layoffs.
www.npr.org
February 8, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Yesterday the Washington Post rid itself of Publisher and Chief Executive Will Lewis. If you're interested in those events and their tumultuous background, I would recommend this detailed account from NPR's @davidfolkenflik.bsky.social
No paywall. www.npr.org/2026/02/07/n...
No paywall. www.npr.org/2026/02/07/n...
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
This important story, which details the dangers of ICE and CBP’s face-recognition app, is available to read for free, thanks to @wired.com's initiative in partnership with @freedom.press to unpaywall FOIA-based reporting.
Other outlets should follow suit.
Other outlets should follow suit.
ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are
ICE has used Mobile Fortify to identify immigrants and citizens alike over 100,000 times, by one estimate. It wasn't built to work like that—and only got approved after DHS abandoned its own privacy r...
www.wired.com
February 5, 2026 at 11:21 PM
This important story, which details the dangers of ICE and CBP’s face-recognition app, is available to read for free, thanks to @wired.com's initiative in partnership with @freedom.press to unpaywall FOIA-based reporting.
Other outlets should follow suit.
Other outlets should follow suit.
The key point I would tack on to this: ICE's facial recognition system isn't designed for how ICE is using it in the field because that's not how *any* facial recognition system is designed to be used
Experts, privacy advocates, even police all view this type of use as irresponsible:
Experts, privacy advocates, even police all view this type of use as irresponsible:
February 5, 2026 at 9:27 PM
The key point I would tack on to this: ICE's facial recognition system isn't designed for how ICE is using it in the field because that's not how *any* facial recognition system is designed to be used
Experts, privacy advocates, even police all view this type of use as irresponsible:
Experts, privacy advocates, even police all view this type of use as irresponsible:
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
Mobile Fortify, the facial recognition tool ICE claims offers definitive proof of legal status, isn’t even designed for what it’s being used for, and was rolled out after a Project 2025 guy dismantled DHS’s centralized privacy assessments
ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are
ICE has used Mobile Fortify to identify immigrants and citizens alike over 100,000 times, by one estimate. It wasn't built to work like that—and only got approved after DHS abandoned its own privacy r...
www.wired.com
February 5, 2026 at 8:47 PM
Mobile Fortify, the facial recognition tool ICE claims offers definitive proof of legal status, isn’t even designed for what it’s being used for, and was rolled out after a Project 2025 guy dismantled DHS’s centralized privacy assessments
Alarming new details about ICE facial recognition:
-DHS secretly rolled back its rules on the tech (which forbid current uses)
-No gallery of potential matches or confidence threshold ratings (standard practices for the tech)
-Agents told to prioritize it over fingerprint (which is more reliable)
-DHS secretly rolled back its rules on the tech (which forbid current uses)
-No gallery of potential matches or confidence threshold ratings (standard practices for the tech)
-Agents told to prioritize it over fingerprint (which is more reliable)
NEW: Records reviewed by WIRED show DHS’s facial recognition app (Mobile Fortify) isn’t designed to actually "verify" identity—despite DHS claims and its agents relying on its matches to support probable cause in the field.
ICE and CBP’s Face-Recognition App Can’t Actually Verify Who People Are
ICE has used Mobile Fortify to identify immigrants and citizens alike over 100,000 times, by one estimate. It wasn't built to work like that—and only got approved after DHS abandoned its own privacy r...
www.wired.com
February 5, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Alarming new details about ICE facial recognition:
-DHS secretly rolled back its rules on the tech (which forbid current uses)
-No gallery of potential matches or confidence threshold ratings (standard practices for the tech)
-Agents told to prioritize it over fingerprint (which is more reliable)
-DHS secretly rolled back its rules on the tech (which forbid current uses)
-No gallery of potential matches or confidence threshold ratings (standard practices for the tech)
-Agents told to prioritize it over fingerprint (which is more reliable)
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
@wyden.senate.gov's record of warning that there is deep and constitutionally-serious dirt being done by the intelligence agencies in secret is unblemished. The vaguer he is, the filthier the dirt is. This is the vaguest I've ever seen him
Ron Wyden Only Talks Like This When The Spies Do Something *Real* Bad
No, I don't know what they did. But I have a lot of experience with the senator
www.forever-wars.com
February 5, 2026 at 5:10 PM
@wyden.senate.gov's record of warning that there is deep and constitutionally-serious dirt being done by the intelligence agencies in secret is unblemished. The vaguer he is, the filthier the dirt is. This is the vaguest I've ever seen him
The White House may have "heightened Democratic lawmakers’ unease about how surveillance authorities could be used in practice"
A great breakdown of the complex situation for FISA 702 as the clock ticks down to its expiration from @ddimolfetta.bsky.social
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...
A great breakdown of the complex situation for FISA 702 as the clock ticks down to its expiration from @ddimolfetta.bsky.social
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...
Domestic surveillance fears loom over Congress debate to renew spying power
Lawmakers’ concerns about immigration enforcement and Fourth Amendment compliance are weighing on the reauthorization fight for Section 702 of FISA, even as the FBI privately warns against letting the...
www.nextgov.com
February 5, 2026 at 4:11 PM
The White House may have "heightened Democratic lawmakers’ unease about how surveillance authorities could be used in practice"
A great breakdown of the complex situation for FISA 702 as the clock ticks down to its expiration from @ddimolfetta.bsky.social
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...
A great breakdown of the complex situation for FISA 702 as the clock ticks down to its expiration from @ddimolfetta.bsky.social
www.nextgov.com/cybersecurit...
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
Proud to play a role in helping get this together for @justsecurity.org. It provides you with details from the sworn declarations filed in support of the ACLU's lawsuit in Minnesota, Hussen v. Noem. The details of abuses by federal agents across the 29 declarations we looked at are chilling.
Minnesota ICE Enforcement: Alleged Constitutional Violations
The ACLU and partners sued over alleged racial profiling and unlawful arrests in Minnesota. Read sworn declarations and case details.
www.justsecurity.org
February 5, 2026 at 2:42 PM
Proud to play a role in helping get this together for @justsecurity.org. It provides you with details from the sworn declarations filed in support of the ACLU's lawsuit in Minnesota, Hussen v. Noem. The details of abuses by federal agents across the 29 declarations we looked at are chilling.
Reposted by Jake Laperruque
As far as I know, this is DHS's first effort to explain their position that I-205 forms allow entry into the home. They rely on the dicta in the 1960 Abel case (before Payton) and re-imagine the plurality opinion in Lucas as if it were the majority (and then overrely on it).
February 5, 2026 at 7:56 AM
As far as I know, this is DHS's first effort to explain their position that I-205 forms allow entry into the home. They rely on the dicta in the 1960 Abel case (before Payton) and re-imagine the plurality opinion in Lucas as if it were the majority (and then overrely on it).