The federal government oversees one of the world’s largest and most complex data ecosystems, which shapes policy decisions and the economy.
But the Department of Government Efficiency’s access to sensitive data sets under the Trump administration and agencies removing data sets from their websites have raised widespread concerns.
To help shed light on this issue, the University of California Berkeley’s School of Information has released a Federal Data Field Guide that serves as a primer on the different types of data the federal government collects, how they’re used, and what legal limits exist for sharing this data.
Former U.S. Chief Data Scientist Denice Ross said in an interview that the field guide is meant to serve as a plain-language reference on why individuals’ federal data sets matter and what the future of the federal data ecosystem should look like.
“There’s a lot of confusion about what constitutes federal data. And in particular, you get a statistician and a geographer and a research scientist in the same room, they’ll be talking across each other about what federal data is. We wanted to provide a typology that’s easy to understand,” Ross said.
Christopher Marcum, a former senior statistician and senior scientist at the Office of Management and Budget, said the field guide is written to “be as approachable and accessible as possible” to the general public, as well as more specialized groups.
“We’re also talking to federal agencies with the field guide, and we’re talking to nonprofits and to business leaders. We feel that it’s provided a sort of a common denominator for where plain-language communication about federal data can that conversation can really start,” Marcum said.
The field guide breaks down eight different categories of federal data and how they’re collected, governed and released by more than 50 agencies.
“Datasets don’t always fit neatly into a single category, which is why the semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal called the duck-billed platypus is this field guide’s mascot,” the field guide states.
Ross said the field guide outlines a “patchwork quilt of policies and statutes” that govern how certain types of data can be used.
“It’s important, in order to understand the special characteristics of any given data set and how it can be used, how it can be shared, what data elements are required or not required by statute, you need to have working knowledge of what some of the main data policies are,” she said.
The field guide outlines the breadth of data the federal government collects and makes available.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration collects real-time satellite imagery tracking hurricanes, the National Archives and Records Administration holds century-old immigration records, and the National Institutes of Health has large volumes of cutting-edge genomic research data. The Census Bureau manages more than 130 different surveys and NASA archives more than 32 petabytes of Earth observation data.
“Across the nation, people and organizations rely on the government’s unique ability to collect comprehensive, nationally representative data that would be impossible for private entities to gather at scale,” the field guide states.
A report last December from the American Statistical Association found that widespread staffing and spending cuts across the federal government, along with policy changes under the Trump administration, have led to certain public-facing data sets being delayed, suspended or canceled.
More than a dozen federal statistical agencies are falling behind on producing high-quality data sets that impact the U.S. economy and government policy. The report also found that “bedrock” data sets across federal agencies are disappearing from websites.
Recent watchdog reports have also raised alarms that DOGE members may have improperly accessed and shared large volumes of sensitive federal data.
The Government Accountability Office found in a recent report that the Treasury Department didn’t follow basic security protocol in granting a DOGE staffer access to sensitive payments information last year.
Meanwhile, the Social Security Administration’s inspector general office is investigating whether former DOGE employees improperly accessed two tightly restricted databases of U.S. citizens’ information, following whistleblower reports from the agency’s former chief data officer.
“If we can make federal data more approachable to give the general public and specialized stakeholders more general knowledge of the policy landscape surrounding data, that increased informational capacity will help translate into people understanding when their data may be at risk,” Marcum said.
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