ICE Reportedly Acknowledges Its Use of Notorious Graphite Spyware

NPR says Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has finally acknowledged that it uses Graphite—effectively confirming what was long suspected.

Graphite is a legendarily powerful spying tool that can hide on smartphones and record user activity, including within encrypted apps, and then delete itself.

Graphite’s owner, Paragon, “entered an agreement with ICE in 2024, under the Biden administration,” according to the Guardian. That contract was paused for review. Last year, the Guardian wrote that the Biden-era review was lifted, and Graphite had been made available to ICE by the Trump Administration, according to procurement documents.

Does that mean ICE is actually installing it on people’s phones without their knowledge? Apparently yes, but ICE claims it’s only in the course of investigating fentanyl trafficking. A letter from ICE acting director Todd Lyons that was reviewed by NPR apparently says so.

Lyons reportedly wrote that “in response to the unprecedented lethality of fentanyl and the exploitation of digital platforms by transnational criminal organizations,” he approved “use of cutting-edge technological tools that address the specific challenges posed by the Foreign Terrorist Organizations’ thriving exploitation of encrypted communication platforms.”

In context, that apparently confirms the use of Graphite, because the letter was in response to expressions of concern from House Democrats specifically about Graphite.

The Trump Administration places some of its more drastic actions under the aegis of fighting fentanyl trafficking. For instance, boats have been blown up, and a foreign head of state was taken into custody in the name of fentanyl enforcement (the head of state was not charged with fentanyl trafficking).