The Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub

Literature Guide to Trump-Era Policies and DOGE's Impact on Personal and Public Data

The Digital Trade and Data Governance Hub curates the latest literature on the challenges posed to personal and public data by the Trump Administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The Hub tracks the evolving government policies on data access and regulation that directly influence innovation and market competition in the AI space. By consolidating the latest news, research, and policy analyses, we provide our audience with a timely resource to understand how these shifts are reshaping the digital ecosystem. 

Led by Dr. Susan Aaronson and Michael Moreno

Is DOGE risking the government’s cybersecurity? Some have lost their jobs to block them.

By Dinah Voyles Pulver, published in USA Today (April 28, 2025)

DOGE’s Data Digging at the Social Security Administration Puts Millions of Americans at Risk

By Molly Weston Williamson, published in Center for American Progress (April 28, 2025)

What has DOGE done in Trump’s first 100 days?

By Stephen Fowler and Shannon Bond, published in NPR (April 28, 2025)

DOGE’s Control of SSA Data Could Harm Millions of Americans: Report

By Suzanne Blake, published in Newsweek (April 28, 2025)

‘This Is What We Were Always Scared of’: DOGE Is Building a Surveillance State

By Julia Angwin, published in NYT (April 30, 2025)

DOGE Is Building a Master Database to Surveil and Track Immigrants

By Makena Kelly and Vittoria Elliott, published in Wired (April 18, 2025)

DOGE Has Access to Sensitive Labor Department Data on Immigrants and Farm Workers

By Vittoria Elliott and Leah Feiger, published in Wired (April 18, 2025)

Lawmakers want to know why DOGE is building a database of sensitive Social Security info

By Scripps News (April 26, 2025)

Judge Says One DOGE Member Can Access Sensitive Treasury Dept. Data

By Hurubie Meko, published in NYT (April 11, 2025)

A whistleblower’s disclosure details how DOGE may have taken sensitive labor data

By Jenna McLaughlin, published in NPR (April 15, 2025)

How DOGE may have improperly used Social Security data to push voter fraud narratives

By Stephen Fowler and Jude Joffe-Block, published in NPR (April 11, 2025)

Understanding DOGE and Your Data

By Harvard Ash Center (March 31, 2025)

DOGE gained access to sensitive data of migrant children, including reports of abuse

By Nick Robbins-Early, published in The Guardian (April 3, 2025)

OPM nominee tells DOGE-concerned Democrats he’ll protect workers’ data

By Matt Bracken, published in the FedScoop (April 3, 2025)

Top oversight Dem files resolution to demand answers from DOGE on AI use

By Edward Graham, published in Government Executive (April 3, 2025)

Federal Workers Can Dispute DOGE’s Data Access, Judge Rules (2)

By Courtney Rozen, published in Bloomberg Law (April 3, 2025)

US economic data at risk from Elon Musk’s Doge cuts

By Claire Jones, published in the FT (March 27, 2025)

DOGE comes for the data wonks

By The Economist, published in The Economist (March 30, 2025)

DOGE staffer who shared Treasury data now has more access to government systems

By Stephen Fowler and Jenna McLaughlin, published in NPR (March 31, 2025)

Data privacy experts call DOGE actions ‘alarming’

By Paige Gross, published in Nebraska Examiner (March 19, 2025)

Trump pens executive order pushing agencies to share data

By Natalie Alms in NextGovFCW (March 21, 2025)

Trump Administration, DOGE Activities Risk SSA Operations and Security of Personal Data

By Jacob Leibenluft, Devin O’Connor, and Kathleen Romig, published in Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (March 25, 2025)

Judge says Treasury, Education, OPM can’t share personal information with DOGE

By Matt Bracken, published in FedScoop (March 24, 2025)

CDT and The Leadership Conference Release New Analysis of DOGE, Government Data, and Privacy Trends

By Elizabeth Laird, Kristin Woelfel, and Quinn Anex-Ries, published in CDT (March 19, 2025)

Upcoming Event

 
US President Donald Trump thinks it’s perfectly appropriate to punish Canada for its trade surplus with the US.  But Trump is only thinking about goods.  As  Professor Kean Birch notes, corporations such as Alphabet, Meta, Amazon and so on have been extracting billions of dollars’ worth of data assets from Canada for years — and they will continue to do so unless the two nations find ways to value data and make the exchange of data more transparent.  Please join us  for a discussion on how firms value data, the implications for cross-border data flows, and how policymakers could bring greater sunshine and accountability into the market for data.

LATEST EVENTS

What do we do

The Digital Trade & Data Governance Hub provide resources, training, events, and evidence-based research to help stakeholders understand data governance and digital trade.

research

Evidence based Research

Training

seminars

Recent Publications

The Dangers of AI Nationalism and Beggar-Thy-Neighbour Policies

As they attempt to nurture and govern AI, some nations are acting in ways that – with or without direct intent – discriminate among foreign market actors. For example, some governments are excluding foreign firms from access to incentives for high-speed computing, or...

Talking to a Brick Wall: The US Government’s Response to Public Comments on AI

April 28, 2025 Building trust in artificial intelligence (AI) is an elusive goal, especially if AI models are closed or partially open, making it difficult for users to determine if these models are reliable, fair or trustworthy. For this reason, the Biden...

US Import Tariffs Will Hurt Americans, Too

February 12, 2025 A tractor is parked beside a greenhouse in Kingsville, Ontario, Canada, February 4, 2025. A 25 percent US tariff on farm imports from Canada would be devastating for the agricultural sector (Carlos Osorio/REUTERS) US President Donald Trump views...

Trump 2.0: Clash of the tech bros

December 11, 2024 The tech giants courting Trump administration officials have conflicting interests. Getty Images In 2016, tariff man couldn’t care less about tech. Newly elected U.S. President Donald J. Trump knew that the people who created and ran America’s tech...

The Age of AI Nationalism and Its Effects

September 30, 2024 Policy makers in many countries are determined to develop artificial intelligence (AI) within their borders because they view AI as essential to both national security and economic growth. Some countries have proposed adopting AI sovereignty, where...

How should we think about data?

We have little information about what data firms collect, how these firms use or sell our data, or how they mix various data types. If we want these markets to operate more equitably and efficiently, policymakers must focus on the governance of data.

Personal Data

e.g. birthdates

 

Proprietary or Confidential Business Data

e.g. payrolls

Public Data

Data in the public domain, census data, scientific data, etc

Metadata

Supposedly anonymized personal data

Machine to Machine Communication

Satellite Data

Wondering who we are?

We are a team with a diverse background in international trade, international affairs, economics, public policy, and communication.

Susan Aaronson

Founder & Director

Michael D. Moreno

Research Director, AI and Data Governance