Trump EO Calls for 'Unfettered' Access to Government Data
Federal agencies should take all necessary legal steps to ensure the president and designated officials have "unfettered access" to government data in support of cutting government waste, President Donald Trump said in an executive order issued Thursday night.
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The EO directs agency heads to grant “full and prompt access to all unclassified agency records, data, software systems, and information technology systems." These are “important steps toward eliminating bureaucratic duplication and inefficiency while enhancing the Government’s ability to detect overpayments and fraud," the White House said.
Center for Democracy and Technology Equity in Civic Technology Director Elizabeth Laird said the administration is “escalating its effort to consolidate federal data across agencies, opening the floodgates for unplanned uses of information that go far beyond what people expected when they entrusted their data to the government.”