Story
Google broke its promise to me – now ICE has my data
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Overview
In April 2025, Google complied with an ICE subpoena and provided Amandla Thomas-Johnson's data without notifying him, violating a previous promise to inform users before sharing their information with law enforcement. Thomas-Johnson, a Ph.D. candidate, had attended a pro-Palestinian protest in September 2024, which led to the data request.
Summary from eff.org.
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Hacker News · eff.org
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Based on 5 sampled comments from this thread. Analyzed 2026-04-16.
- Praise: Migrating away from Google services empowers users to take control of their data, reducing reliance on companies that may comply with government data requests.
- Praise: Self-hosting solutions like Immich offer users a viable alternative to mainstream cloud services, enhancing privacy and data security.
- Concern: Google's compliance with ICE subpoenas raises serious ethical concerns about user privacy and the extent of corporate responsibility in protecting data.
- Concern: The increasing surveillance capabilities of government agencies, facilitated by tech companies, contribute to a climate of fear and mistrust among users.