ICE Can Now Spy on Every Phone in Your Neighborhood

after a federal agent shot and killed 37-year-old Renee Good in Minneapolis on Wednesday, WIRED reported, citing the December federal court testimony of the alleged ICE shooter, Jonathan Ross. In it, he said he was a firearms instructor and had had “hundreds” of encounters with drivers in a professional capacity during enforcement operations. Separately, we saw how the strategy behind protest policing is deliberately leading to protests. If you haven’t seen it, here’s our guide to protesting safely in the age of surveillance.

Meanwhile, Grok, the artificial-intelligence-powered chatbot developed by Elon Musk’s xAI, was everywhere this week as the platform expands access to digital “undress” capabilities that allow users to generate nude images of people and then upload them to social media platform All of this has led researchers and activists to question Grok, and on Friday, X took steps to limit who can generate images with Grok to paid “verified” users. However, in practice, chatbots are still being used to create erotic “undress” images on the platform, even if the capability is not as accessible as it once was.

If you, like billions of others globally, are a WhatsApp user, we’ve got tips about features in the end-to-end encrypted communications app that can enhance its privacy and security even more. Plus, while offensive spyware is still relatively rare, it is spreading around the world, so we have a guide to protecting your smartphone.

There is so much more! Each week, we round up security and privacy news that we haven’t covered in depth ourselves. Click on titles to read full stories. And stay safe there.

The materials obtained by 404 Media shed new light on how surveillance tools from a company called PennLink, Tangles and WebLock, can provide information to ICE agents after the agency contracted for the services in September. Social-media and phone-monitoring platforms can be used to monitor neighborhoods or city blocks for mobile phones and track the devices over time, potentially revealing where people live, work, and visit. PennLink purchases large amounts of commercial location data to enhance and expand the dragnet.

“This is a very dangerous tool in the hands of an out-of-control agency. This granular location information paints a detailed picture of who we are, where we go and who we spend time with,” Nathan Freed Wessler, deputy project director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy, and Technology Project, told 404 Media.

For the past two weeks, thousands of Iranians have been protesting against the country’s brutal regime and leadership, demanding reforms after initially protesting over poor economic conditions. In response to the growing unrest, the country’s supreme leader has hinted that drastic action is possible. As part of the country’s response, it initiated a complete internet blackout: by January 9, Iranians were without connectivity for more than 24 hours. Reports indicate that people have not been able to access social media, leaving them out of touch with family members, while also being prevented from using ATMs and bank cards.

This is not the first time that Iran has shut down the internet for millions of people. The country, which has been building the technical capacity to digitally isolate itself from the global internet for years, had previously shut down connections in 2025, 2022 and 2019. Often these internet shutdowns are designed to prevent protesters from communicating with each other and organizing, limiting the spread of news, and preventing video footage of law enforcement brutality from spreading around the world. They also cause huge economic damage to Iran.

In October, authorities in the United States and United Kingdom sanctioned Cambodian national Chen Ze and his company, Prince Holding Group, for allegedly running a forced labor scam complex in Cambodia and defrauding the operation of $15 billion in the process. This week Chen was extradited from Cambodia to China. He was shown on television wearing a hood and handcuffs as he was deboarded from a plane in Beijing. The Guardian reports that it is “not immediately clear” what charges Chen faces in China, although authorities said his case is part of a broader crackdown on notorious scammers who have stolen billions of dollars from people around the world.

Notorious Chinese state-backed espionage hackers Salt Typhoon reportedly compromised the email accounts of several US Congressional committee staffers as part of a campaign discovered in December. The attackers also targeted communications staff of the House China Committee, as well as staff of the Intelligence Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the Foreign Affairs Committee. The incident is the latest in a wide range of public and private sector breaches conducted by Salt Typhoon, which have given Chinese intelligence extensive access to US government communications.