The trend towards government data consolidation has persisted over recent decades, spanning both Democratic and Republican administrations. Schwartz highlights a significant acceleration during Trump’s second term, asserting that measures taken by the Trump administration contravene laws such as the Privacy Act, indicating a troubling departure from the safeguards instituted during the Nixon era. A critical concern is the dismantling of Watergate-era protections designed to maintain separation among databases. Schwartz points out that this consolidation of data is marked by a lack of transparency regarding the operations of the new integrated systems. Notably, on March 20, Trump signed an executive order aimed at dissolving “data silos,” leading to agreements between agencies, such as a deal between US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the IRS for the exchange of personal taxpayer information. While the primary focus seems to be on immigrants, experts like Venzke warn that this data consolidation could eventually encompass the personal information of all American citizens, raising concerns about potential abuses of power.
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