Google covertly gave ICE data on pro-Palestine student activist
3 Min Read
Google's move has fueled privacy concerns over tech compliance with government subpoenas.
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With the US Capitol background, demonstrators rally during the March on Washington for Gaza at Freedom Plaza in Washington on January 13, 2024 (AP)
Before US immigration authorities began detaining international students who spoke out against "Israel’s" war on Gaza earlier this year, campus activists were already fearful of surveillance. At Cornell University, graduate students Momodou Taal and Amandla Thomas-Johnson left their dormitories to hide in a house outside Ithaca, New York, fearing they were targets.
Their fears proved justified. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), a division of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), sought to track them down. Agents issued administrative subpoenas to Google and Meta, demanding access to their Gmail, Facebook, and Instagram accounts.
Google handed over data without prior notice
In the case of Thomas-Johnson, Google complied with the subpoena before notifying him, denying him the opportunity to challenge it. By the time he learned of the request, he had already left the United States.
Google later told him in an email that the company had provided “basic subscriber information,” including his name, address, and phone number, though not communications content or location data.
During Trump’s first administration, some tech firms publicly resisted subpoenas targeting users for protected speech. Critics now warn that Silicon Valley’s willingness to comply enables surveillance of those who oppose US and Israeli policies.
Tech companies’ response to ICE subpoenas raises concerns
Lindsay Nash, a professor at Cardozo School of Law, said it was troubling but unsurprising that Google complied without notice:
“Subpoenas can easily be used and the person never knows. It’s problematic to have a situation in which people targeted by these subpoenas don’t have an opportunity to vindicate their rights.”
Meta, unlike Google, provided Taal 10 days to challenge the subpoena before compliance. Google, however, notified Thomas-Johnson weeks after turning over his data.
ICE invoked a broad legal provision that allows immigration officers to demand documents relating to a person’s right to enter or remain in the United States. Unlike search warrants, administrative subpoenas do not require judicial approval or probable cause, making them susceptible to abuse.
Studies of ICE records show the agency uses this provision hundreds of times a year, overwhelmingly to seek information that could help locate individuals it wants to deport.
Surveillance criminalizing pro-Palestine advocacy
Court filings revealed that HSI flagged Taal to the State Department after combing through online articles about his pro-Palestine activism at Cornell. His visa was revoked, forcing him into hiding before he eventually left the country.
Reflecting on the experience, Taal said the use of tech company subpoenas was “a phishing expedition” and argued that the government’s approach showed its willingness to suppress dissent:
“This is the extent that they will go to be in support of genocide,” he said.
