Attorneys for the Heritage Foundation filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on July 7, asking a federal judge to order the agency to turn over documents on government using Babel X software to track the smart phones and social media posts of millions of Americans.
The Heritage litigation stems from the conservative non-profit foundation’s April 18 FOIA request to DHS for all agency documents in which appear the terms “Babel X,” “Babel,” “Babel Street” or “PanAmerica.”
Babel X is a controversial software program that allows users to monitor social media posts around the world in 200 languages, as well as listen to smart phone conversations in a specified geographic location….