ShadowDragon is an internet surveillance (OSINT) tool used by law enforcement.
Its founder and CEO is Daniel Clemens.[1] It was founded in 2016 as a spinoff of his Packet Ninjas security consulting company.[2]
Their SocialNet product was launched in 2009 and collects data from over 200 sources,[3] including BabyCenter, BlackPlanet, Bodybuilding.com, FetLife, Fortnite, PornHub, Telegram, and Tinder, which allows law enforcement to find open source intelligence on targets. It is connected through the Maltego platform. It links a person's accounts between sites and creates a social network graph.[4][1][5]
ShadowDragon's OIMonitor product alerts law enforcement based on predictions of behavior and relationships.[6]
Users
edit- FBI
- DEA
- Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, including Homeland Security Investigations's Office of Intelligence, Criminal Analysis & Production Division, Cyber Crime Division, and International Intelligence Unit[1]
- Australian Signals Directorate[7][5]
- Department of Home Affairs (Australia)[5]
- Massachusetts State Police and city police departments in the state, partly funded through Project Safe Neighborhoods[8]
- Iowa's Polk County Sheriff's Office, initially funded through Operation Underground Railroad[9][10]
- Michigan State Police, through Kaseware[6]
Reactions
editEva Galperin of Electronic Frontier Foundation noted privacy concerns, noting the risk of discussions of pregnancy in an environment where abortions are prosecuted.[1]
Jeramie D. Scott from Electronic Privacy Information Center stated "This type of mass surveillance, which is available to the government and other entities, creates a chilling effect on online activities."[1]
Samantha Floreani of Digital Rights Watch said it is "exceptionally invasive, generally operates without people’s knowledge, [and] is potentially inaccurate".[5]
Kade Crockford of American Civil Liberties Union said "People shouldn’t be afraid to voice their political opinions or speak out against the police themselves because they fear the police are watching them".[8]
Arisha Hatch of Color of Change noted tools are "often introduced under the false premise that they are public safety and accountability tools. In reality, they endanger Black and marginalized communities".[6]
The Mozilla Foundation requested major companies block the ShadowDragon scraper, including Amazon, Apple, Discord, Facebook, Google, Nextdoor, OnlyFans, Youtube and others. Many of these companies said the scraping violates their terms of service.[11][12]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b c d e Joseph Cox (18 September 2023). "Inside ShadowDragon, The Tool That Lets ICE Monitor Pregnancy Tracking Sites and Fortnite Players". 404 Media. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
- ^ Ninjas, Packet (17 February 2016). "Packet Ninjas Announces the Formation of ShadowDragon To License Cyber Intelligence Investigative Tools". prnewswire.com. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
Today organizations are struggling to identify, understand and stop the malicious actors and threats targeting them. We have been asked frequently by our customers if they could purchase the tools we use to investigate and analyze these threats," said Daniel Clemens, President and CEO of Packet Ninjas. "In order to meet this demand, we spent 2015 packaging our tools for sale under a separate company we named ShadowDragon.
- ^ Joseph Cox (12 March 2025). "The 200+ Sites an ICE Surveillance Contractor is Monitoring". 404 Media. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
- ^ "ShadowDragon SocialNet Transforms for Maltego". maltego.com. Archived from the original on 19 January 2021. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
- ^ a b c d Wilson, Cam (26 October 2023). "Australian spies are surveilling PornHub, Fortnite and Tinder". Crikey. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
- ^ a b c Kwet, Michael (21 September 2021). "ShadowDragon: Inside the Social Media Surveillance Software That Can Watch Your Every Move". The Intercept. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
- ^ "Contract Notice View - CN4003708". 18 September 2023.
- ^ a b Ryan Kath; Jim Haddadin (7 July 2021). "ShadowDragon: Mass. Police Get New Social Media Monitoring Tool". NBC Boston. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
- ^ Clayworth, Jason (17 April 2024). "Polk County Sheriff launches internet surveillance". Axios. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
- ^ Barreda, Virginia (14 May 2024). "Polk County using online surveillance software that critics say could be privacy overreach". Des Moines Register.
- ^ Joseph Cox (24 March 2024). "Mozilla Foundation Calls on Tech Industry to Block ICE Contractor". 404 Media. Retrieved 24 March 2025.
- ^ "Tell Etsy, Reddit, Tinder & Duolingo: Stop Feeding Surveillance Tech". Mozilla. 24 March 2025.