About LexisNexis Risk Solutions and
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
 

In March 2021, LexisNexis Risk Solutions began a five-year contract worth $3.2m a year to provide an investigation tool for the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The tool promotes public safety and is not used to prevent legal immigration nor is it used to remove individuals from the United States unless they pose a serious threat to public safety including child trafficking, drug smuggling and other serious criminal activity.

This contract was signed after President Biden’s Executive Order of January 21, 2021 which revised Homeland Security’s civil immigration enforcement policies and priorities, emphasizing human rights and focusing on threats to national security, public safety and security at the border.

The LexisNexis investigative solution allows U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to manage information during law enforcement investigations. These investigations include terrorism, national security and public safety cases, narcotics smuggling, organized crime, transnational gang activity, child exploitation, human smuggling and trafficking, illegal exports of controlled technology and weapons, money laundering, financial fraud, cybercrime and intellectual property theft. We entered into this contract understanding that the mission of Immigration and Customs Enforcement under the Biden Administration is to focus immigration enforcement resources on people with serious criminal backgrounds.

Under the Biden Administration policies, Immigration and Customs Enforcement does not use the technology to track individuals that may have committed minor offenses. It is strictly used for identifying individuals with serious criminal backgrounds.

Any suggestion the tool is an instrument to help separate families at the border is false. In fact, it is frequently employed to reunite families and protect innocent people hoping for a better life in this country from criminals who seek to prey on vulnerable individuals.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions does not provide the Department of Homeland Security or US Immigration and Customs Enforcement with license plate images or facial recognition capabilities.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions regularly monitors use of its technology by all customers and does regular checks and audits to ensure its services are being used for their intended purpose. Any misuses are investigated immediately and are stopped on discovery.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions has a contract with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enable the agency to vet its employees. The contract is not related to immigration.

In addition, LexisNexis Legal & Professional, a sister company of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, has a contract with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which provides immigration detainees with free access to a customized LexisNexis legal research service so they can better understand their rights, mount legal defenses and prepare appeals. The service includes immigration law materials as well as user guides in English and Spanish.

LexisNexis Legal & Professional products are often used by law students at universities to provide pro bono legal support for undocumented immigrants and detainees. No such law school (or law firm) searches are sold or licensed to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement or to any other government or commercial organization.

Two LexisNexis Risk Solutions products use military personnel data to help banks and other financial firms comply with federal laws that protect members of the military.

• One product uses data to enable lenders and collectors to comply with the Service Members Civil Relief Act. This Act is intended to ease the economic and legal burdens on military personnel during their active service.
• The second product helps lenders comply with the Military Lending Act. This Act is a federal law that provides special notices and protections for active-duty service members such as capping interest rates on loan products.

Beyond this tightly controlled use, which protects members of the military, our products do not use military status data.

In a world of growing data, the protection of privacy and responsible use of data are top priorities. Our products and services are designed to reduce fraud, mitigate risk, and make society safer. They also take into consideration privacy by design. Our commitment to responsible data stewardship is just one way we can make the world a safer place. In addition, we have an organization devoted to information security and are rigorous in our compliance with legal and regulatory guidelines. We undergo regular compliance reviews of our processes that are designed to ensure that we meet or exceed regulatory requirements.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions does not provide data to Palantir.

In 2006, REV Venture partners, the venture capital arm of RELX, the parent company of LexisNexis Risk Solutions, became an early-stage investor in Palantir. At the time of Palantir’s initial public offering in September 2020, REV’s stake represented only about 0.5% of group’s equity. It has since sold its entire holding.

LexisNexis Risk Solutions’ data is used by a number of different sectors in a wide number of ways that benefit society. These include:

• Last year alone, LexisNexis Risk Solutions detected and stopped 590m fraud attacks on institutions such as retailers and banks
• The company helps financial institutions provide lower cost credit for the 50m disadvantaged U.S. consumers without a credit score who are dependent on pay-day loans and other expensive forms of credit
• The company works with auto insurance companies to reduce the cost of insurance for 80% of consumers
• LexisNexis Risk Solutions developed the ADAM Program for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children to locate and rescue more than 800 missing children in the U.S.

LexisNexis is committed to a clearly defined Code of Ethics and Business Conduct which mandates the company “support and respect international human rights” and works to ensure it is “not complicit in human rights abuses.”

As a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact Ten Principles related to human rights (through its parent company, RELX), LexisNexis Risk Solutions stands against all human trafficking and will not tolerate it in any part of the business. In addition, the company’s Code of Ethics and Business Conduct, as disseminated to every employee, sets the standard for corporate and individual behavior.

The United Nations Global Compact ten principles are reflected in the Code, which stresses our commitment to respecting human rights, among other provisions. The Code clearly mandates the company to “support and respect international human rights” and works to ensure it is “not complicit in human rights abuses.”

It is our understanding the Biden Administration’s new policies have made clear that Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities shall not violate non-citizens’ civil rights and civil liberties.

We firmly believe in the Rule of Law. The effective enforcement of this country’s laws is paramount to the success of a civil and democratic society and the covenants that should govern behavior. Law enforcement needs access to the very best tools available to keep felons from further preying on victims, both physically and financially. Criminals and other adversaries of our nation use weapons, stolen data, and sophisticated technology to rob Americans of their money, their sense of safety and well-being, and even their dignity. We believe it is both a duty and privilege to provide federal, state, and local law enforcement professionals with world-class tools and technology to protect all residents of our country and return home safely to their own families each night.