Execs at Reuters parent defend contract with ICE

Executives at Thomson Reuters, the parent company of the Reuters news service, defended the company’s contracts with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, reports Sam Biddle of The Intercept.

Biddle writes, “So far, the only response has come from Thomson Reuters Special Services CEO Stephen Rubley, who, in a letter passed on to The Intercept, replied that his parent company ‘provides products and services to many parts of the U.S. government in support of the rule of law,’ and pointed Privacy International to the corporation’s ‘Trust Principles,’ which make no mention of the acceptability or unacceptability of providing data services to the agency — though Trust Principle No. 5 does state, tellingly, that ‘no effort shall be spared to expand, develop, and adapt the news and other services and products so as to maintain its leading position in the international news and information business.’

“NBC News previously reported that Rubley is ‘on the board of the ICE Foundation, a nonprofit that ‘supports the men and women of ICE.”

“Rubley’s response continues by stating that TRSS does not provide data directly to those who are responsible for the separating children from their parents.”

Read more here.