On July 16, the Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) and the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) held a panel to discuss the federal government’s collection of sensitive information from states and its plans to consolidate these data into detailed profiles of individuals. The event brought together experts with diverse backgrounds to examine how such efforts could affect civil liberties, privacy, and security, as well as how data systems should operate within legal boundaries while respecting human rights.
Alexandra Reeve Givens, CEO of CDT, opened the event by stating: “[CDT is] deeply invested in helping governments deliver services better. We have an entire part of our organization that does that. But it only works if the people actually trust that that infrastructure is going to deliver and work for them, and not be politicized and weaponized.” She added, “One thing that unites the world that was just described on the stage: it only works if people are following the rules and doing it with public visibility, public transparency and accountability […] It doesn’t work if we take a wrecking ball to all of the existing laws and norms, to the oversight infrastructure that, again, was established by Congress and by long tradition to make sure that these programs are operating safely and well.”
Following the event, Givens shared her reflections on LinkedIn:
The abuses are proliferating: from DHS accessing the long-protected personal information collected by the IRS and Social Security Administration, to the Department of Agriculture demanding detailed information on the tens of millions of people who have applied for SNAP benefits, to the Justice Department demanding the voter rolls for 9 states, which show detailed personal information of every voter.
To be clear, these requests & overriding of laws and safeguards is not normal. When career staff within the agencies object, they are being fired.
Our panel with AEI’s Shane Tews, former IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel, former Washington Secretary of State Kim Wyman, and Palantir Technologies‘s Courtney Bowman detailed what’s happening and what’s at stake. I’m grateful for the good conversation, which — as expected — also involved pointed critique.
My take: This issue shouldn’t be partisan. Congress must step in with immediate oversight — and people of good conscience within the agencies, and the companies whose tools enable these actions, must resist.
This panel is part of CDT’s broader effort aimed at addressing new risks to privacy posed by federal consolidation or repurposing of sensitive data managed by public agencies across various states.
A recording and transcript from this discussion are available online for those who missed attending live.