Google handed over personal data about students and journalists to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement in response to a subpoena that had not yet been approved by a judge, according to a report by The Intercept.
The search and advertising technology giant provided ICE with the username, physical address, and list of services associated with the Google account of Amandla Thomas-Johnson, a British student and journalist who participated in a pro-Palestinian protest in 2024 while studying at Cornell University in New York.
Google also turned over Thomas-Johnson’s IP address, phone number, customer number and identity, and credit card and bank account numbers linked to the account.
The subpoena, which reportedly included a prank message, did not specifically explain why ICE requested Thomas-Johnson’s personal data, but the student. before speaking if the data request comes within two hours Cornell informs us that the US government has revoked the student’s visa.
It’s the latest example of how the US government is using a controversial type of legal request, called an administrative subpoena, to sue tech companies. turn on the individual’s personal data who has been critical of the Trump administration. This includes anonymous Instagram accounts that share information about ICE presence and raids, as well as people who criticize or protest Trump and his policies.
ICE and Google did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Administrative subpoenas are issued directly by federal agencies without the intervention of a judge. Such legal requests cannot compel companies to turn over email account content, online searches, or location data, but they can request metadata and other identifiable information, such as email addresses, in an attempt to de-anonymize the owner of a particular online account.
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Unlike court orders, tech companies are under no obligation to hand over people’s data after receiving an administrative subpoena.
Last week, a digital rights group, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, sent a letter to Amazon, Apple, Discord, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Reddit, demanding that the companies stop providing data to the Department of Homeland Security, which houses ICE, in response to an administrative subpoena.
“Based on our own contact with targeted users, we are deeply concerned that your company has failed to challenge unauthorized surveillance and defend users’ privacy and speech,” read the letter.
“We called the company in receipt of such subpoenas to emphasize that DHS seeks to confirm the court that the request is illegal or unconstitutional before the company discloses any user information. We also urge you to notify the user of the request for information with a useful time to challenge the subpoenas themselves,” read.
Thomas-Johnson told The Intercept that, “we have to think very hard about resistance in these situations … where the government and Big Tech know a lot about us, can track us, can imprison us, can destroy us in many ways.”