Google broke its promise, and now ICE has my data

Amandla Thomas-Johnson's Google account data was handed over under an ICE administrative subpoena.

The problem is that although Google has a policy of notifying users in advance when there is a law enforcement request, it actually notified him by email only after the data had already been provided to DHS. As a result, he lost the opportunity to object.

Based on this case, EFF has asked the California and New York state attorneys general to investigate Google's conduct as a deceptive business practice.

The information handed over included the following.

• IP address
• Physical address
• Session times

This combination is not simple account information, but can lead to a surveillance profile capable of location tracking and behavioral pattern analysis.

Thomas-Johnson was a dual-national international student with no criminal charges, but after participating in a Palestine solidarity protest he experienced surveillance, searches, and interrogation. The case shows how easily privacy and freedom of expression can be undermined when state power combines with platform data.

The key issue is not so much what legal obligation Google actually had, but why the procedure that promised to protect users failed to work.