This is an IHeart podcast.

QuarZone Media.

Welcome to It Could Happen here, a show about things falling apart.

One such thing, frequently falling apart, is any notion of privacy or digital privacy. Ever encroaching surveillance is one of the

biggest global issues affecting free expression and a free press, both directly through surveillance

technology, but also by chilling speech. I'm Garrison Davis, and this past week, news has swept

the internet that ICE is using

software from an Israeli company called Paragon, which allows ICE, or DHS, to secretly hack into

any smartphone, break encryption, access messages, track real-time location, and turn your

iPhone or Android into a walking

listening device. All of which sounds very scary, and some of which is true. Though, some of

these claims are exaggerated or even likely false based on what we can currently infer from

published research.

Due to legitimate fears, we live in a world of surveillance paranoia, which can lead to

surveillance myths. This is a core function of the panopticon. People should take ICE's

new enhanced smartphone surveillance capacity seriously, but to adequately

do so requires an accurate understanding of the threat model, which we will get into later

this episode with some help from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

But first, let's address the newsworthy aspect of this story, what has actually

changed recently. DHS first contracted with the U.S. branch of Paragon in September of 2024

for $2 million. But later that October, the contract was put on hold, thanks to a Biden executive order

restricting government use of foreign spyware.

...