The Mozilla Foundation is calling upon 30 technology companies, social networks, and websites to block web scraping by an ICE surveillance contractor called ShadowDragon after 404 Media published a list of sites that the contractor pulls data from.
“The thorniest concern here is the meticulous targeting such data enables—putting the lives of protesters, researchers, immigrants, and human rights defenders participating in any form of civil resistance that challenges political powers at risk of arrest and intimidation. SocialNet’s widespread reach across major social networking sites and forums also puts data from millions of people at risk of unconsented exposure or exploitation,” the Mozilla Foundation said in a statement.
ShadowDragon sells a tool called SocialNet that streamlines the process of pulling public data from various sites, apps, and services. Marketing material available online says SocialNet can “follow the breadcrumbs of your target’s digital life and find hidden correlations in your research.” In one promotional video, ShadowDragon says users can enter “an email, an alias, a name, a phone number, a variety of different things, and immediately have information on your target. We can see interests, we can see who friends are, pictures, videos.”