Homeland Security is trying to compel tech companies to hand over information about Trump critics

The Department of Homeland Security has been quietly demanding that tech companies turn over user data about critics of the Trump administration, according to reports.

In several cases in recent months, Homeland Security has relied on the use of executive subpoenas to seek identifying information from people who use anonymous Instagram accounts, which share posts about ICE immigration raids in their neighborhoods. These petitions are also used to seek information about people who have criticized Trump officials or protested government policies.

Unlike legal subpoenas, which are authorized by a judge after seeing enough evidence of a crime to warrant a search or seizure of someone’s property, administrative subpoenas are issued by federal agencies, allowing investigators to seek a wealth of information about people from technology and telecommunications companies without a judge’s direction.

Although administrative subpoenas cannot be used to obtain the content of a person’s emails, Internet searches, or location data, they can seek information directly about a user, such as when the user logs in, from where, what devices they use, and to disclose email addresses and other identifying information about who opened an Internet account. But because administrative subpoenas are not backed by a judge’s authority or a court order, it is largely up to the company to provide any data to the requesting government agency.

Administrative summonses are not new; The use of these subpoenas signed by Trump officials to seek information that identifies people critical of the president’s policies has sparked panic.

Bloomberg reported last week that Homeland Security claimed ownership of an anonymous Instagram account called @montocowatch, which it says aims to share resources to help protect immigrant rights and due process throughout Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. This comes amid an ongoing war on immigration across the United States, which has drawn widespread protests and criticism. Homeland Security attorneys have sent an administrative subpoena to Meta demanding that it turn over the account holder’s information, citing a non-Homeland Security employee who says they are receiving a tip that ICE agents are being considered.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the owner of the account, said there was no evidence of wrongdoing and that recording police officers, sharing those recordings, and doing so anonymously is legal and protected under the First Amendment. Homeland Security withdrew its subpoena without providing an explanation.

The ACLU called the subpoena “part of a broader strategy to intimidate people who write about immigration or who criticize government actions.”

Bloomberg reported that the attempt to expose the @montcowatch account was not an isolated incident, citing at least four other cases in which Homeland Security officials used executive subpoenas in efforts to identify people using Instagram accounts that published content critical of the government. Those subpoenas were also withdrawn after the account holders sued to block the attempt.

Tech companies in recent years have published public reports detailing how many government demands for data they receive. But most do not say how many legal and administrative subpoenas they receive at any given time, even though the two types of demands are very different.

When asked by TechCrunch, Meta spokesman Francis Brennan did not say whether Meta had provided Homeland Security with any data involving @montcowatch or if the company had been asked to provide information about the account otherwise.

A new report by The Washington Post on Tuesday found that a subpoena was also used to search for information on Google about a retired American just hours after he sent a sensitive email to lead Homeland Security attorney Joseph Dernbach. The retiree’s home was later visited by federal agents who inquired about the email.

The Post described the retiree as an outspoken critic of Trump in his first term, who attended the No Kings rally last year, regularly attends rallies and protests, and has written criticisms of lawmakers, all actions protected under the First Amendment.

Within five hours of sending the email the retired Homeland Security attorney — who was mentioned in an article about the case of an Afghan American who was trying to deport him and whose email address is listed on the Florida Bar’s website — received an email from Google, according to the Washington Post. The email informed him that his account had been subpoenaed by the Department of Defense.

The subpoena wanted to know the date, time, and duration of all his Internet sessions, his Internet domain address and physical address, as well as a list of each service he used, and any other usernames and identifying information associated with his account, such as his credit card, driver’s license, and Social Security numbers.

Two weeks later, Homeland Security was at his door, questioning him about an email he sent to Dernbach, which the agents admitted was illegal.

Google spokeswoman Katelin Jabbari told TechCrunch that the company pushes back against mass or improper subpoenas, “as we did in this incident,” referring to the subpoena cited in the Washington Post report.

When asked by TechCrunch, Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin did not say why the US wanted information about people who were critical of the Trump administration and accounts documenting ICE’s work, or say why the subpoenas were revoked.

“HSI has broad administrative subpoena authority under 8 USC § 1225(d) and 19 USC § 1509(a)(1) to issue subpoenas,” McLaughlin said, referring to Homeland Security Investigations, an investigative unit within ICE.

Not all companies are able to provide data about their customers. For example, information is encrypted at the edge and can only be accessed by accessing a person’s phone or device. That said, many companies are still able to provide a large amount of information about their users, including where they log in, how they log in, and from where they leave, which may allow investigators to uncover anonymous accounts.

End-to-end encrypted messaging apps, like Signal, have long fought over how little data they collect about their users. The messaging app responds to legal demands from time to time that it can’t generate user data it doesn’t need to begin with.

Relying on American tech giants is another reason why European countries and ordinary consumers want to lean less on American tech executives, at a time when CEOs and top leaders of some of America’s biggest tech companies are getting closer to the Trump administration.