technology
Canadian Sues DHS After Google Receives Administrative Subpoena for His Account Data
A Canadian plaintiff, represented by the ACLU, filed suit in U.S. federal courts in Washington, D.C., and northern California after Google notified him of a Department of Homeland Security administrative subpoena seeking his account data. The subpoena covers the period from Sept. 1, 2025, to Feb. 4, 2026, and follows a Jan. 30 X post disparaging ICE that received nearly 96,000 views.
May 6, 9:21 AM·2m read2 sources
Substrate placeholder — needs reviewAudio version
Tap play to generate a narrated version.
Developing·Limited corroboration so far. This page will refresh as more sources emerge.
U.S. federal court against the Department of Homeland Security after Google notified him that it had received an administrative subpoena seeking extensive information from his account. , where DHS is located, and in northern California, where Google has its headquarters.
Cbc reported that the plaintiff received the Google notification on Feb. 9. The DHS administrative subpoena sought information related to the Canadian plaintiff's Google account for the period between Sept.
1, 2025, and Feb. 4, 2026. On Jan. 30 the plaintiff posted on X, formerly Twitter, disparaging ICE in a message that received nearly 96,000 views. U.S. government officials in his social media posts. "I have long admired the United States for its commitment to free speech. U.S.
Government, I would be targeted with a summons seeking to find out who I am, where I live, where I go and what I read online," the Canadian plaintiff stated. The lawsuit was filed against the backdrop of two high-profile deaths involving federal immigration agents in Minnesota. Renee Good was fatally shot by an ICE officer on Jan.
7. Alex Pretti died after being struck multiple times by gunfire from two Customs and Border Patrol officers more than two weeks after Jan. 7. Minnesota has sued DHS, alleging that federal officials are denying state investigators access to information required to conduct probes into the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti and a non-fatal shooting involving a federal immigration agent.
In February the New York Times reported that Google, Reddit, Discord and Meta have received hundreds of administrative subpoenas for user information from DHS. U.S. border authorities have significant discretion to deny entry and that they could have their smartphones and laptops examined.
