ICE prepares sole-source facial recognition deal with Clearview AI

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is once again advancing its relationship with Clearview AI through a sole-source contract, a move provoking renewed scrutiny and civil liberties alarm.

ICE’s Office of Acquisition Management, on behalf of Homeland Security Investigations’ (HSI) Cyber and Operational Technology division, issued a Special Notice of Intent to award facial recognition services exclusively to Clearview AI under FAR 6.302-1, which permits bypassing competitive bidding when only one vendor is deemed reasonably available.

ICE has justified its decision by citing Clearview’s “unique proprietary capabilities.” The solicitation will propose a 12-month base period plus three optional annual extensions.

ICE’s move echoes earlier engagements with Clearview AI. In August 2020, the agency entered into a contract with Clearview AI for its HSI Dallas mission support office that reportedly was valued at $224,000.

Clearview’s CEO at the time, Hoan Ton-That, said “Clearview AI’s agreement is with Homeland Security Investigations, which uses our technology for their Child Exploitation Unit and ongoing criminal investigations. Clearview AI has enabled HSI to rescue children across the country from sexual abuse and exploitation.”

Government spending records also indicate a 2021 contract between ICE and Clearview, though details remain limited.

Clearview AI’s business model of scraping billions of publicly available images, including from social media, has sparked controversy and regulatory backlash. In May 2022, Clearview settled a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union in which it agreed to limit its services in the U.S. to government entities only, effectively halting sales to private firms.

Additionally, Clearview has been fined and banned across multiple jurisdictions for violating privacy laws. In the European Union, for instance, it faced General Data Protection Regulation enforcement, including a €30.5 million fine from Dutch regulators.

Civil liberties groups have long criticized Clearview’s unchecked surveillance potential. ACLU‑Northern California, Mijente, Just Futures Law, and the Immigrant Defense Project filed public records requests in 2020 to uncover ICE’s use of the technology, highlighting concerns that it could be used to identify, track, and surveil immigrants based on social media presence.

A GAO report in 2023 revealed troubling oversight gaps, noting that ICE began using Clearview AI in June 2019 before it had completed the required Privacy Impact Assessment in May 2020. Agency officials removed key privacy safeguards despite recommendations from the Department of Homeland Security’s Privacy Office.

The proposed sole-source deal is likely to reignite concern among immigrant rights advocates and privacy watchdogs who argue that ICE’s stated scope for use -criminal investigation by HSI – lacks transparent safeguards preventing expanded deployment in immigration enforcement or removal operations. The absence of binding oversight policy or meaningful public accountability mechanisms will only intensify calls for transparency.

ICE’s renewed contract with Clearview AI illustrates a growing tension between agency leaders who view the technology as indispensable for solving criminal investigations quickly, and opponents who warn that it entrenches biometric surveillance and risks misidentification, privacy intrusion, and increased danger for immigrant communities.

Article Topics

biometrics  |  Clearview AI  |  facial recognition  |  government purchasing  |  ICE  |  law enforcement  |  U.S. Government