Google hands over student journalist data to ICE

Google handed over personal data about student and journalist Amandla Thomas-Johnson to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in response to a subpoena that had not been approved by a judge, according to a report by The Intercept. The company provided ICE with the usernames, physical addresses, and an itemized list of services associated with Thomas-Johnson's Google account. Google also turned over Thomas-Johnson's IP addresses, phone numbers, subscriber numbers and identities, and credit card and bank account numbers linked to his account. The subpoena included a gag order but did not include a specific justification for the request. Thomas-Johnson said the demand for his data came within two hours of Cornell University informing him that the U.S. government had revoked his student visa. Thomas-Johnson is a British student and journalist who briefly attended a pro-Palestinian protest while attending Cornell University in New York. ICE and Google did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The digital rights group Electronic Frontier Foundation sent a letter to Google and other companies demanding they stop giving data to the Department of Homeland Security in response to administrative subpoenas. The letter urged the companies to insist that the department seek court confirmation of the demands and to notify users. Thomas-Johnson told The Intercept that people need to think very hard about what resistance looks like under these conditions where government and Big Tech know so much about individuals, can track them, and can imprison or destroy them in a variety of ways.