From Palantir’s data fusion to Clearview’s face scraping and Flock’s license-plate dragnets, a handful of private vendors now underpin everyday policing—and ICE’s deportation machine. Sold as “public safety,” these tools supercharge surveillance, stitch together vast personal data, and evade democratic oversight.

Powerful tools that collect and aggregate data, enable facial recognition, and increase surveillance have become a bedrock of American policing over the past two decades. In collaboration with private technology companies, law enforcement agencies at all levels have experimented with how to implement these tools and created a large consumer market for them. Against this backdrop, it is essential to understand the role of the tech industry in both increasing the reach of local law enforcement and enabling mass deportations by the Trump administration.

This post provides an overview of some of the most impactful and concerning police surveillance technology currently deployed, including the most dangerous companies building these tools for law enforcement. Many of these systems are already in place, but as they continue to grow in scale, it is imperative that the public is informed to pressure the government to prioritize and demand our rights and safety over corporate interests to surveil and punish.