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ICE can search credit card data via Thomson Reuters without a warrant
A report says credit card updates can reach ICE through data brokers, credit bureaus, and Thomson Reuters' CLEAR product within about 24 hours for address changes.
An investigation highlighted by Yahoo Finance says U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement can search and analyze personal information without a warrant by using access tied to Thomson Reuters data services.
According to the report, when consumers apply for credit cards or update account information, credit card companies share personal data such as names, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses with credit bureaus. The data is then provided to Thomson Reuters, where it is incorporated into CLEAR, a product that the company sells to law enforcement agencies including ICE.
The report also alleges that CLEAR access can be linked to an ICE tool used to identify neighborhoods for raids, and that address updates on credit accounts can be passed to credit bureaus within about 24 hours and distributed more broadly to other data brokers through legal gaps.
Senator Ron Wyden, cited by 404 Media and repeated in the Yahoo Finance story, said the arrangement is a privacy violation and that Americans cannot opt out, with attorney Laura Rivera similarly describing broad sharing driven by loopholes.