Google turned over student journalist’s data to ICE without a court order

Google

• Google gave personal data of a British student to US ICE after an admin subpoena
• Data included usernames, addresses, IPs, phone numbers, and financial details
• Digital rights groups urge tech firms to fight subpoenas and safeguard user privacy

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Google handed over a wide range of personal data belonging to a British student and journalist to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement after receiving a subpoena that had not been authorised by a judge, according to a report by The Intercept.

The data related to Amandla Thomas-Johnson, a British national who was studying at Cornell University in New York and briefly attended a pro-Palestinian protest in 2024. The information provided by Google reportedly included usernames, physical addresses and an itemised list of services linked to his Google account.

Google also disclosed Thomas-Johnson’s IP addresses, phone numbers, subscriber identifiers, and financial details, including credit card and bank account numbers associated with the account, the report said.

The request came via an administrative subpoena issued by ICE. Unlike court-approved warrants or subpoenas, administrative subpoenas are issued directly by federal agencies without judicial oversight. They cannot compel companies to hand over the contents of emails, search histories or precise location data, but they can be used to demand metadata and identifying information that can reveal the owner of an online account.

According to Thomas-Johnson, the data request came within two hours of Cornell informing him that the U.S. government had revoked his student visa. The subpoena reportedly included a gag order and did not specify why ICE was seeking his personal information.

Tech companies are not legally required to comply with administrative subpoenas. Unlike court orders, these requests can be challenged or refused outright. Nonetheless, the report highlights how such subpoenas are increasingly being used by U.S. authorities to obtain user data linked to political speech and protest activity.

In recent months, similar requests have reportedly targeted anonymous social media accounts that share information about ICE raids, as well as individuals who criticise or protest policies associated with former President Donald Trump’s administration.

ICE and Google have not made a public comment.

Last week, digital rights group the Electronic Frontier Foundation sent a joint letter to Amazon, Apple, Discord, Google, Meta, Microsoft and Reddit, urging them to stop handing over user data to the Department of Homeland Security in response to administrative subpoenas.

“Based on our own contact with targeted users, we are deeply concerned your companies are failing to challenge unlawful surveillance and defend user privacy and speech,” the letter said. It called on companies to insist that DHS seek court approval before data is disclosed and to notify affected users with enough time to challenge the requests themselves.

Speaking to The Intercept, Thomas-Johnson said the case raised broader questions about dissent and surveillance in the digital age.

“We need to think very hard about what resistance looks like under these conditions,” he said, “where government and Big Tech know so much about us, can track us, can imprison, can destroy us in a variety of ways.”