Data Governance

LGBTQ data is disappearing under Trump, reports find

Government agencies have gotten rid of gender identity and sexual orientation data elements from over 360 data collections over the last year.

Senators demand details on DOGE’s data access following revelations of improperly shared SSA data

While Sens. Michael Crapo, R-Idaho, and Ron Wyden, D-Ore., are asking for more information from SSA, Democrats in the lower chamber want to compel the agency to hand it over using a “resolution of inquiry.”

Long before TikTok, the clock Was ticking on standards for foreign-owned apps

COMMENTARY | If the U.S. lacks consistent standards for protecting user data, other nations can develop algorithms and technologies that advance their own interests.

Report: Federal statistical system needs help to meet its ‘basic mission’ in the face of upheaval

Statistical agencies have lost scores of staff under the Trump administration, threatening their ability to meet their mission, according to a new report from the American Statistical Association.

Social Security occupational data update appears stalled after agency drops regulatory overhaul

The Social Security Administration has spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to update the occupational data used in disability adjudications. When the agency will actually move to newer data is unclear.

Nearly 20 Democratic states inadvertently share driver data with ICE, lawmakers say

Nlets, a nonprofit law enforcement info-sharing network, can share state residents’ information with immigration agencies, federal lawmakers said Wednesday.

Exclusive

Labor Department looks to pilot intaking unemployment claims for states

The effort follows the department’s notice that it may create a national claims database, a move critics say raises cybersecurity, privacy and surveillance risks.

Class action lawsuit alleges data consolidation within USCIS is illegal

Plaintiffs represented by a coalition of advocacy groups have argued that drawing searchable data from other government agencies into a system maintained by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services “far exceed” that system’s scope.

Democratic report: DOGE is risking Americans’ data by operating outside federal law

A report released by Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich., said a lack of restrictions on DOGE employees’ collection of sensitive data can result “in serious cybersecurity vulnerabilities, privacy violations, and risk of corruption.”

Senate Finance Chair wants details from SSA following whistleblower allegations of data endangerment

Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, says he has reviewed information from SSA’s former chief data officer alleging that DOGE put sensitive agency information at risk. Now he wants information from the agency itself.

The federal government’s data protection depends on resilience — not just cybersecurity

COMMENTARY | An increasingly AI-driven threat landscape demands a resilience-first mindset across federal agencies.

Trump is outpacing his first term in deleting environmental information

The restriction of language and removal of information makes it harder to address climate issues, say the authors of a new report on environmental information under Trump 2.0.

House NDAA draft mandates database of contractors used in covert operations

The early stage defense bill draft would create an internal list of contractor clients that assist the U.S. military in its secret operations “to facilitate deconfliction and risk assessment.”

Inside efforts to capture federal data after ‘the big takedown’

America’s Data Index aims to serve as a “weather forecast” on the state of government data.

How the federal government can tackle its on-prem sensitive data dilemma

COMMENTARY | The new cyber battleground isn’t just in the cloud — it’s also in legacy on-prem servers teeming with forgotten data that are ripe for exploitation.

Key data leadership roles are becoming vacant as DOGE pushes for access

Trump signed the Evidence Act in 2019, but now many of the roles associated with it are unoccupied.

DOGE is building a ‘master database’ of sensitive information, top Oversight Democrat says 

Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., is calling on the Social Security Administration’s watchdog to investigate whistleblower claims that the efficiency team is compiling potentially sensitive data across several government agencies.