By Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | AZ Mirror
The Tucson Police Department has deployed a controversial AI-powered surveillance tool that is also being used by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to scour social media, track locations and much more, according to documents obtained by the Arizona Mirror.
In August 2023, the Tucson Police Department signed a 28-month contract with Cobwebs Technologies for its “Tangles Open-Source Intelligence” software. The police department then sent a request to the Arizona Department of Emergency and Military Affairs to get reimbursed from the state’s Border Security Fund.
In the reimbursement document, which the Electronic Frontier Foundation received in response to a public records request and provided to the Mirror, TPD requested the state reimburse it $277,500.23 for the purchase and installation of the software.
