The Aporia · DHS cites risk to more than 40,000 personnel in effort to take leaked data offline

DHS cites risk to more than 40,000 personnel in effort to take leaked data offline

Read the original at The Guardian ↗

Cite

APA MLA Chicago

Singh, M. (2026, October 29). DHS cites risk to more than 40,000 personnel in effort to take leaked data offline. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/oct/29/dhs-personnel-data-leak

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

Quick Summary

On Thursday, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) requested an Icelandic hosting company, FlokiNET, to remove or limit access to a database containing information about over 40,000 DHS personnel, citing potential risks such as harassment and physical harm. ZeroFox, authorized by ICE for content removal actions, made this request. However, FlokiNET declined the request due to concerns that the data included work addresses and phone numbers rather than personal details. The non-profit DDoSecrets had released the database on Wednesday.

Written by AI on 2026-10-29, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On October 28, 2026, personal data for 41,000 US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) employees was leaked online. This includes names, phone numbers, and addresses of personnel involved in immigration enforcement. The leak was claimed by a group calling itself "the Department of Peace," which released the information on the website Distributed Denial of Secrets (DDoSecrets). The breached data involves staff from agencies such as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection. DHS is investigating the breach, citing significant risks to its employees' safety.

Written for “DHS Data Breach Exposes Employees” on 2026-10-30, grounded in this article and the 7 other(s) covering the same event.

Why this leaning score

The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.

Privacy advocates have criticized the DHS’s use of personal data from other agencies, including Medicaid records and taxpayer data, for immigration enforcement.

left criticizes government overreach in data collection

Reading Centre (beta estimate) Confidence high

Leaning: centre for article 115766 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-29

Compared with similar articles

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

10%

1 of 10 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

Centre

of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate

Publisher signals

67/100

The Guardian's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Politics

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-10-29 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Guardian · 1805 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected

Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Maanvi Singh

7 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

🔮 FlokiNET’s CEO, Kolja Weber, told Reuters that his company would not remove the DHS data because it included government employee work addresses and work phone numbers, not personal phone numbers and addresses.

2026-10-29 · assertive framing · DHS cites risk to more than 40,000 personnel in effort to take leaked data offline

🔮 “May it be a comfort to her family and loved ones that so many mourn their loss and are praying for them at this sad time.”

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2026-09-28 · assertive framing · Gone in 90 seconds: an ‘invisibilized’ ICE is arresting more people than ever

🔮 The new legislation, shared exclusively with the Guardian, would require immigration officers to obtain an administrative warrant from a supervisor outlining a probable cause for detaining someone.

2026-09-25 · assertive framing · US senators propose legislation to limit ICE arrests and indefinite detention

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Also by Maanvi Singh

Tributes pour in for labor leader Dolores Huerta: ‘Fought for farm workers to the very end’

2026-10-28 · The Guardian

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2026-09-28 · The Guardian

US senators propose legislation to limit ICE arrests and indefinite detention

2026-09-25 · The Guardian

Two helicopter pilots killed while battling Yosemite fires

2026-09-21 · The Guardian

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 7 articles by Maanvi Singh →

Topics

DHS FlokiNET Icelandic The US ZeroFox

Subjects

DHS ORG · 7× FlokiNET ORG · 3× DDoSecrets ORG · 1× ICE ORG · 1× Icelandic NORP · 1× Immigration and Customs Enforcement ORG · 1× Kolja Weber PERSON · 1× Reuters ORG · 1× The US ORG · 1× ZeroFox ORG · 1×

Narrative

A group calling itself “the Department of Peace” claimed responsibility for obtaining the data, and said in a statement on Wednesday that DHS employees “have our information, so it’s only fair that we have theirs” and that it hoped the data “can be used to limit further harm by the DHS and supports all efforts in that direction”.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-29

2026-10-29 · The Guardian

DHS cites risk to more than 40,000 personnel in effort to take leaked data offline · assertive framing

Claims (10 extracted, 1 hedged)

The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) asked an Icelandic hosting company on Thursday to take down or limit access to data related to thousands of agency personnel, saying the content put them at risk, according to the request posted online by hosting company FlokiNET. uncertain

content → ask → FlokiNET

The database “places more than 40,000 identifiable individuals at risk of harassment, stalking and physical harm”, the request said. asserted

request → place → harassment

ZeroFox, a company authorized by the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency to pursue content removal actions, cited the figure in an email to FlokiNET. asserted

ZeroFox → authorize → FlokiNET

FlokiNET’s CEO, Kolja Weber, told Reuters that his company would not remove the DHS data because it included government employee work addresses and work phone numbers, not personal phone numbers and addresses. asserted

it → tell → addresses

A DHS spokesperson said the agency “is aware of a potential breach and is actively working to address the situation swiftly and effectively. asserted

agency → say → situation

We take all security threats against our employees and officers seriously and will work to ensure all are properly protected.” asserted

all → take → employees

The non-profit data transparency group DDoSecrets released data on more than 40,000 DHS personnel on its website on Wednesday, alongside a separate, searchable database developed by hacker and journalist “maia arson crimew”. asserted

group → release → crimew

The database was briefly inaccessible on Thursday but was soon republished at a different domain. asserted

database → republish → domain

data → call → direction

Privacy advocates have criticized the DHS’s use of personal data from other agencies, including Medicaid records and taxpayer data, for immigration enforcement. asserted

advocates → criticize → enforcement