tech
March 15, 2026
Hacked data shines light on homeland security’s AI surveillance ambitions
Records show DHS tech incubator spending large sums on partnerships that would expand surveillance capabilities
TL;DR
- Leaked data from DHS's Office of Industry Partnership (OIP) shows funding for AI surveillance technologies.
- Projects include automated airport surveillance, biometric scanning via phones, and AI platforms for analyzing 911 data to predict crime trends.
- The funding is part of DHS's significant budget increase and follows controversies over data gathering on protesters.
- The data was obtained by a hacktivist and shared by transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets.
- Contracts span two decades (2004-2025) totaling $845 million for over 1,400 awarded projects.
- Several contracts focus on enabling agents to harvest biometric data using cellphones, with some technologies intended for wider distribution.
- Four contracts fund AI systems to analyze airport CCTV feeds for passenger surveillance.
- The DHS has a history of failed or criticized behavioral screening programs at airports.
- Three contracts aim to build AI platforms for analyzing 911 call data, with one promising crime prediction through 'geospatial heat maps'.
- Experts like Jeramie Scott of EPIC express concern over the direction of these surveillance technologies, drawing parallels to dystopian fiction.
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