Securus Technologies began building Artificial Intelligence tools in 2023 using its database of recorded phone and video calls from people in custody. The company trained at least one model using seven years of calls from the Texas prison system and has worked on other state- or county-specific models. Over the past year Securus has piloted the tools to monitor conversations in real time; the company declined to specify locations but its customers include jails holding people awaiting trial, prisons for those serving sentences, and Immigrations and Customs Enforcement detention facilities.
The system analyzes phone and video calls, text messages, and emails to flag segments for human agents to review. Facility investigators can deploy the features to monitor randomly selected conversations or those of individuals suspected of criminal activity, and flagged material is then passed to investigators for follow-up. Securus president Kevin Elder said the tools can detect when crimes are being contemplated earlier in the cycle. Elder also said monitoring has helped disrupt human trafficking and gang activities organized from inside prisons and identify staff bringing in contraband, though the company did not provide specific cases tied to its new models.
Critics and advocates raised privacy and consent concerns. People in custody and those they call are notified that conversations are recorded, but advocacy groups say most do not know recordings may be used to train Artificial Intelligence. Bianca Tylek of Worth Rises described consent as coercive and noted that inmates often pay for calls. Leaks have shown past improper recording of attorney calls, and Corene Kendrick of the ACLU said the system enables invasive surveillance with few legal limits. Funding and regulation are in flux: a 2024 Federal Communications Commission reform initially barred telecoms from passing recording and monitoring costs to inmates, but after lobbying and a pause by Brendan Carr in June the FCC on October 28 voted to raise rate caps and allow companies to pass security costs for recording, transcribing, and building Artificial Intelligence tools on to inmates; commissioner Anna Gomez dissented. The FCC will seek comment on the new rules before they take final effect.
