DOJ OIG Report Finds Department Fails to Mitigate Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance Threats
Bot Mutiny |
An Inspector General audit reveals the Department of Justice lacks a coordinated strategy or employee training to handle the widespread collection of digital trails.
The Department of Justice isn't ready for the surveillance reality it helped create. A new audit released by the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General on September 22, 2026, shows the agency is failing to protect its own operations and personnel from Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance (UTS). The term UTS refers to the large-scale collection and analysis of digital trails. These trails are generated by everyday technology and online services. While the DOJ is often the one doing the watching, the OIG report, titled Audit of the Department of Justice's Efforts to Mitigate the Effects of Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance, indicates the department is struggling when the roles are reversed. ## No Definition, No Plan
The audit found a fundamental lack of organization. The DOJ doesn't even have a common, enterprise-wide definition for what UTS is. Without a shared vocabulary, there's no shared defense. The OIG found that DOJ has not taken sufficient steps to mitigate the risks UTS presents. The department's approach is fragmented. Only a small percentage of DOJ components have actually taken any action to deal with these threats. The actions they did take weren't coordinated across the agency. This lack of coordination persists even after clear warning signs. The report specifically mentions the doxing of judges who oversee immigration cases. Even with specific incidents like that on the record, the department hasn't managed to get its act together. ## Zero Awareness
It gets worse when you look at the people on the ground. The OIG found there's almost no awareness of known or emerging UTS threats across the department. The DOJ hasn't bothered with mandatory training. While there were some voluntary training sessions on UTS-related topics, the OIG noted that attendance was very low. There's currently no enterprise-wide, UTS-specific training program in place. If the people working at the DOJ don't know how they're being tracked, they can't stop it. ## The FBI Exception
This isn't the first time the OIG has sounded this alarm. The new report follows a June 2025 audit that looked specifically at the FBI. The FBI wasn't included in this latest audit because it actually started doing something. According to the OIG, the FBI took "productive actions" after its 2025 wake-up call. The rest of the DOJ hasn't followed suit. ## Next Steps
The OIG issued three recommendations to fix the management of UTS threats. The DOJ agreed with all of them. It's a standard response, but the report makes it clear that the department is currently vulnerable to the very digital footprints that have become a standard part of modern life. You can read the full press release for the specific breakdown of these failures. The department is lagging behind the tech it deals with every day. For an agency centered on law and order, it's remarkably disorganized regarding its own digital security.