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The info firm LexisNexis makes tens of millions of {dollars} promoting devoted instruments to legislation enforcement and different U.S. authorities companies, based on contracting knowledge and company paperwork reviewed by Motherboard.
The contracts spotlight LexisNexis’ typically ignored authorities work, which incorporates capabilities that stretch past its atypical people-search or article databases accessible to customers and companies. A kind of is the Digital Crime Heart, a system for linking public information with companies’ personal inside datasets and people from different companies. Motherboard obtained paperwork detailing the Secret Service’s buy of Digital Crime Heart licenses.
“In the present day’s legislation enforcement companies want a view past their very own jurisdictions. LexisNexis Accurint Digital Crime Heart brings collectively disconnected knowledge from over 10,000 completely different sources, together with police companies nationwide and public information for intelligence-led policing that may then drive selections and actions,” the web site for the Digital Crime Heart reads. LexisNexis sells the product underneath the model Accurint, which it makes use of for its varied legislation enforcement and authorities merchandise.
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The Secret Service paid round $400,000 annually from 2020 to 2022 for entry to the Digital Crime Heart, based on procurement information. The software is designed to be a one-stop store for knowledge searches that will ordinarily require a number of disparate programs.
Motherboard additionally discovered Accurint purchases by the State Division, the Meals and Drug Administration, the Animal and Plant Well being Inspection Service, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Division of the Navy, and the Protection Counterintelligence and Safety Company. The Intercept beforehand coated ICE’s buy of LexisNexis knowledge. Paperwork obtained by immigrant advocacy group Simply Futures Legislation later discovered ICE searched that knowledge over a million occasions in seven months.
A lot of the LexisNexis purchases are for “Accurint for Legislation Enforcement” or “Accurint for Authorities,” LexisNexis’ devoted knowledge search software for public companies. “With Accurint, you may enhance productiveness and improve effectivity by processing hundreds of information at a time to find suspects, witnesses and fugitives. Devoted consultants will work with you to customise an answer that meets your distinctive company wants,” the product’s web site reads.
By means of a Freedom of Data Act (FOIA) request, Motherboard obtained a product description written by LexisNexis of its Accurint knowledge product. A lot of that knowledge consists of what can be accessible in client variations of LexisNexis, similar to enterprise and company info. It additionally consists of knowledge varieties that is perhaps of specific profit to legislation enforcement, similar to “relations, neighbors & associates info.”
Zach Edwards, a safety researcher who follows the info buying and selling ecosystem, informed Motherboard in a web-based chat that “‘relations, neighbors & associates info’ is completely alarming. It might seem that LexisNexis has taken the idea of ‘family and friends plans’ to a complete new creepy stage, by creating client profiles accessible for buy to the federal government, with particulars about individuals’s shut private contacts.”
He additionally pointed to Accurint together with looking, fishing, and firearms licenses. “Promoting looking, fishing, and hid weapons permits is a harmful line to be taking part in on resulting from the truth that about half the U.S. States have legal guidelines to stop sharing that info.”
Paul Eckloff, senior director, public relations, authorities at LexisNexis informed Motherboard in an electronic mail that “LexisNexis Threat Options prides itself on the accountable and lawful use of knowledge. Amongst our broad vary of providers, LexisNexis Threat Options helps U.S. legislation enforcement companies of their necessary public security work. As a rule, we don’t touch upon our authorities contracts or clients.”
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