Taylor Lorenz’s Power User ICE's New Surveillance System Can Follow You Everywhere
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Jan 16, 2026 Investigative reporter Joe Cox from 404 Media dives into ICE's alarming new surveillance technologies, Tangles and WebLock. He explains how these tools can track everyone's phone movements in real-time, from work to home. Joe reveals the intricate ways the ad industry exploits location data, which governments buy for monitoring purposes. The discussion also touches on the chilling effects on free speech and protests, legislative responses to protect privacy, and practical steps individuals can take to safeguard their data. It's a deep and thought-provoking exploration of digital surveillance.
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All-In-One Phone And Social Surveillance
- ICE purchased two combined systems, Tangles for social media and WebLock for phone location, to monitor people without seeking carrier warrants.
- Together they create an all-in-one surveillance product that links social posts to device movements over time.
Click-To-Trace Location Analytics
- Tangles/WebLock let analysts draw a shape on a map to list devices present and then trace their nighttime, daytime locations and exact routes.
- The systems convert raw location data into easy one-click analytics like 'route' and 'nighttime mode.'
Ad Bids Fuel Phone Location Harvesting
- Location data reaches surveillance firms mainly through embedded SDKs in apps and, more likely, via the real-time bidding (RTB) ad ecosystem.
- RTB lets advertising firms observe bid traffic and siphon location signals which are then repackaged and sold to governments.