Generative A.I. Is Used To Unmasked ICE Officers

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An activist has started using artificial intelligence to identify Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents beneath their masks — a use of the technology sparking new political concerns over AI-powered surveillance.

Dominick Skinner, a Netherlands-based immigration activist, estimates he and a group of volunteers have publicly identified at least 20 ICE officials recorded wearing masks during arrests. He told POLITICO his experts are “able to reveal a face using AI, if they have 35 percent or more of the face visible.”

The AI-powered project adds a new twist to the debates over both ICE masking and government surveillance tools, as immigration enforcement becomes more widespread and aggressive.

ICE says its agents need to wear masks to prevent being unfairly harassed for doing their jobs. To their critics, agents in masks have become a potent symbol of unaccountable government force. The masking, and the counter-campaign to identify agents, has prompted a crossfire of bills on Capitol Hill.

Skinner’s AI-powered unmasking project is part of a broader online campaign, the ICE List, that has published the names of more than 100 ICE employees, from field agents to back-office bureaucrats. It’s one of several anti-ICE campaigns that have drawn attention from the media and Homeland Security officials.

ICE did not comment on the accuracy of Skinner’s purported identifications, but in a statement, ICE spokesperson Tanya Roman said that the masks “are for safety, not secrecy” and that these listings threaten officers’ lives.

In response to efforts to identify ICE agents, Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), who chairs the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy and technology, introduced the Protecting Law Enforcement from Doxxing Act in June, which would make it illegal to publish a federal officer’s name with the intent to obstruct a criminal investigation.

A Blackburn spokesperson said she is against the public’s use of computer-assisted facial recognition to identify ICE officials but supports police use of the technology.

Under existing U.S. law, however, Skinner’s project is legal — highlighting to lawmakers and law enforcement officials the downside of years of congressional inaction on surveillance and privacy laws.

Skinner said the organization’s guidelines aren’t applicable to his efforts, noting that the ICE List uses facial recognition tools but is not a provider of the technology itself.

He declined to describe what AI model the tool is built on but said the tool generates its best guess on what the officer looks like unmasked, using screenshots from ICE arrest and raid videos.

Skinner sends batches of these artificially created images for volunteers to use on reverse image search engines like PimEyes. The company, which offers facial recognition capabilities to the public, trawls through millions of images posted online, often turning up social media profiles on LinkedIn and Instagram.

PimEyes did not respond to requests for comment.

Asked about the risk to ICE officers, Skinner said he doesn’t believe that the ICE List is endangering officers, saying he posts only names and does not include officers’ addresses or contact information in the listings. He does acknowledge that a name alone would be enough to lead to an officer’s personal data, but discouraged doxing as undermining his anti-ICE effort.

“I don’t believe in public justice, but I do believe in public shaming and public accountability,” Skinner said.

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/08/29/ai-unmasking-ice-officers-00519478

[27monster27 16,088]

This is interesting for sure; a very good use of AI.

I do agree though that this does have (admittedly a slippery slope) of potentially being used for nefarious reasons.

[phantasmas 12,460]

I guess you CAN use the master's tools to take down their own house..  

[lastpopicon 37,509]

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1 hour ago, lastpopicon said:

AI as a tool is neutral. Not good or bad (besides the environmental impact). It's how people use it. But unfortunately there are a lot of evil, greedy people out there who will use it for evil, greedy purposes. If people were generally good and conscientious AI would be an amazing thing. People are the problem

[lastpopicon 37,509]

1 hour ago, hELXIG said:

AI as a tool is neutral. Not good or bad (besides the environmental impact). It's how people use it. But unfortunately there are a lot of evil, greedy people out there who will use it for evil, greedy purposes. If people were generally good and conscientious AI would be an amazing thing. People are the problem

People are the problem in everything, even the internet you are typing on can be used for evil (and the worst kinds), yet, I don't see people trying to shade others for using the internet.

It's just new tech and people will always suck.

[Red 99,589]

AI’s we love her again moment

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49 minutes ago, lastpopicon said:

People are the problem in everything, even the internet you are typing on can be used for evil (and the worst kinds), yet, I don't see people trying to shade others for using the internet.

It's just new tech and people will always suck.

I think the difference between AI and other tech advancements is that it is SO powerful, so the potential for bad is so much higher than ever before. It actually has the potential to ruin literally everything. For the past two years I've been saying we are not ready for this technology. The tech is advancing faster than we are. We need to be 100 years more advanced in emotional intelligence and selflessness before this tech has the potential to be anything be world destroying. The fact we already can't tell what's real online anymore and the way it's infiltrated every aspect of life already and is making everything worse, from customer service to all the arts.. I can understand why people hate it so much. But at the end of the day, like everything, it's the people who are ****ing evil and rotted