Paragon Solutions—Paragon Solutions' Graphite spyware contract with ICE was reactivated after a White House human-rights review, despite the same tool's use against journalists and activists
Paragon Solutions' U.S. subsidiary signed a $2 million, one-year contract with ICE's Homeland Security Investigations division in September 2024 for its Graphite spyware, awarded non-competitively as a 'unique' capability. DHS issued a stop-work order in October 2024 pending White House review of compliance with Executive Order 14093, which restricts U.S. government use of commercial spyware over human-rights concerns. On August 30, 2025, under the Trump administration, ICE lifted the stop-work order and reactivated the contract, per federal procurement records first reported by journalist Jack Poulson and confirmed by TechCrunch. The reactivation came after WhatsApp's January 2025 disclosure that roughly 90 Graphite targets worldwide, including journalists and human-rights workers, were spied on, and after Paragon terminated Italy's government contract when Graphite was found targeting Italian journalists and migrant-rescue activists. Congressional Democrats (Sens. Peters and Wyden, Rep. Casar) subsequently sought records on how ICE acquired and uses the tool; no compliance determination under EO 14093 has been published, and DHS's Privacy Office - which would have reviewed the tool - was dissolved in a March 2025 reduction in force.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authoritarian Compliance | +toward | secondary | -0.50 |
| Digital Safety for Vulnerable Users | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Surveillance Technology | +toward | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.715 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)
Evidence (2 signals)
Congressional Democrats and IBTimes UK report ICE used Graphite to read phones it never physically seized, amid dissolved DHS privacy oversight
Senator Gary Peters sought DHS records on ICE's Graphite purchase and use in July 2026; Senator Wyden and Rep. Casar asked the GAO in August 2026 to examine federal agencies' acquisition of hacking tools. Reporting noted the DHS Privacy Office, which would have assessed the tool's compliance posture, was dissolved in a March 2025 reduction in force, and that no privacy impact assessments had been filed for the tool through 2026.
TechCrunch: ICE reactivates $2M contract with spyware maker Paragon after stop-work order
TechCrunch, citing federal procurement records, reported that ICE lifted an October 2024 stop-work order and reactivated its $2 million Paragon Graphite spyware contract on August 30, 2025, following a White House human-rights compliance review.