Icelandic web-hosting company FlokiNET has refused a request made on behalf of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to remove leaked data belonging to Homeland Security employees. The company said the publication of the data serves the public interest.
The request warned that the information could expose more than 40,000 people to harassment and physical harm.
The dispute, reported by Reuters, centres on an archive known as Icepick. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) includes ICE and Customs and Border Protection, among other agencies.
Why FlokiNET Refused the ICE Data Takedown
Cybersecurity company ZeroFox, which is authorised by ICE to seek content removals, sent the request to FlokiNET on Thursday, October 29. It asked the host to remove or restrict access to the material.
FlokiNET chief executive Kolja Weber told Reuters that the company would not remove the data because it contained government employees’ work addresses and phone numbers, rather than their personal contact details.
In a statement quoted by CyberScoop, FlokiNET argued that identifying officials carrying out public duties was different from publishing private information to enable people to be located at home. It said journalists and the public had a legitimate interest in knowing who exercises government authority.
Safety Concerns and a Separate Suspension
ZeroFox disputed that distinction, arguing that the records were stolen personal data identifying and locating real people, regardless of their jobs, CyberScoop reported.
DHS said it was addressing a potential breach and working to protect affected employees and officers.
FlokiNET’s refusal to remove the ICE data did not prevent a temporary interruption. According to the company’s account reported by CyberScoop, domain registrar CentralNic separately suspended the site’s domain. The search tool later returned under a domain registered elsewhere.
A hosting provider supplies the infrastructure on which a website runs, while a registrar manages its domain registration. The two companies could therefore reach different decisions about the same site.
Homeland Security Employee Data Published This Week
Transparency nonprofit Distributed Denial of Secrets published the personnel data on Wednesday, October 28. A group calling itself the Department of Peace claimed responsibility for obtaining it, Reuters reported.
The clash places the Icelandic host at the centre of a dispute over access to information about government officials and the risks of publishing identifiable employee records.
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