Paul Schroeder writes: On June 4, 2026 the Department of Commerce issued a new order “Disclosure Avoidance for Statistical Products” (DAO 216-26) that limits the types of privacy protection methods that the Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) can use for their data products. This order subverts processes developed over decades to foster transparency and...

Zack Whittaker reports: The Dutch government has blocked American IT giant Kyndryl from acquiring Solvinity, a Dutch cloud provider that hosts the Netherlands’ online identity platform. The government in The Hague said the deal poses a possible “risk to the public interest.” Dutch minister for the digital economy Willemijn Aerdts said in a machine-translated letter published Monday...

Stetson Miller reports: The Supreme Court is set to hear a case on Monday that could determine if law enforcement’s use of geofence warrants violates the Fourth Amendment. The case was filed by a man named Okello Chatrie, who was convicted in a 2019 Virginia bank robbery after law enforcement obtained his digital location information...

Meredith Lee Hill, Jordain Carney, and Mia McCarthy report: Hill Republican leaders are finding themselves in a never-ending crisis over the fate of a government spy law that has unleashed a bitter, intraparty battle within the House while also threatening to derail a host of other GOP priorities. Republicans now have scant legislative days to...

Jude Joffe-Block reports: Immigration and Customs Enforcement is using spyware tools that can intercept encrypted messages as part of the agency’s efforts to disrupt fentanyl traffickers, according to a letter sent last week by the agency’s acting director, Todd Lyons. Lyons’ letter, which was reviewed  by NPR, said ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) is using...

by Amanda Seitz and Maia Rosenfeld April 8, 2026 The Trump administration is quietly seeking unprecedented access to medical records for millions of federal workers and retirees, and their families. A brief notice from the Office of Personnel Management could dramatically change which personally identifiable medical information the agency obtains, giving it the power to...

Danielle Han reports: Nearly two years after Lizelle Gonzalez filed a civil lawsuit against Texas prosecutors for wrongfully jailing her over a self-managed abortion, a Trump-appointed judge on Tuesday dismissed the case by declaring the officials involved were protected by “qualified immunity.” Ah, yes, because what’s more overrated in a thriving republic than, say, due process? Gonzalez’s case garnered international...

Our government misled a court? I’m shocked, SHOCKED I tell you…. DNYUZ reports: Last week in Rhode Island, in a hearing over the Trump administration’s efforts to access the state’s unredacted voter lists, US district judge Mary McElroy asked a Department of Justice lawyer what the agency had been doing with the voter roll data it already amassed from other states...

Odia Kagan of FoxRothschild writes: The FTC just published its Strategic Plan for FY 2026–2030. What does it actually mean for privacy compliance? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Here’s a breakdown. Telemarketing Still a top priority. The plan doubles down on unlawful robocalls and the Do Not Call Registry. What to do: Button up your...

Jude Joffe-Block of NPR reports: As Justice Department officials are working to acquire sensitive voter registration data from states and have recently disclosed a plan to share it with the Department of Homeland Security, a key privacy officer in DOJ’s division tasked with enforcing civil and voting rights laws has resigned. Kilian Kagle was the chief...

I wish some of this stuff was an April Fools joke, but it’s not. Back in September 2025, we reported that President Trump wanted to build a national voter roll. If his latest attempt survives a court challenge, he will be one step closer to achieving that. Daily Caller reports: President Donald Trump is expected...

Jennifer Osting reports: Jefferson County Clerk David Yates is asking a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice that seeks to obtain Kentucky’s full, unredacted voter registration list. In a motion filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, Yates argues that the Justice...

Rose Lundy reports: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights announced on March 19 that it would investigate Maine and 12 other states that have laws requiring health insurance plans to cover abortion services. The office is asserting that a federal provision called the Weldon Amendment, which protects “health care entities” such as...

The Federal Trade Commission is taking action against OkCupid and its affiliate Match Group Americas over allegations OkCupid deceived users of its dating app by sharing their personal information, including photos and location information, with an unrelated third party, contrary to OkCupid’s privacy promises. As part of a settlement, OkCupid, operated by Dallas-based Humor Rainbow,...

Did you sign up for the new White House app? Don’t use it until you read this, because it puts your privacy and data security at risk. Patrick Quirk takes an impressive technical piece and distills it for those of us who are not developers or coders. His article is based on original research by...

Zack Whittaker provides helpful resources to help you keep yourself safe from the government when in airports. He notes: As you go through U.S. airport security before your flight, note that TSA officers cannot examine your devices or look at your data. But government authorities have broad powers to demand access to your devices and...

Alfred Ng reports: The FBI is buying up information that can be used to track people’s movement and location history, Director Kash Patel said during a Senate hearing Wednesday. It is the first confirmation that the agency is actively buying people’s data since former Director Christopher Wray said in 2023 that the FBI had purchased location data...

Dzuya Walter reports: A constitutional petition has been filed at the Milimani High Court challenging the alleged unlawful sharing and use of protesters’ personal data by telecommunications companies and investigative agencies. In the petition, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has named several state agencies, police officers, and institutions as respondents, accusing them of unlawfully...