Law Scholars Groups Link Privacy With Concerns Overt Trump's Threats to Rule of Law

PLSF and PLSC also said they “recognize that many in the privacy community share these and other concerns not listed,” and that “some of us in leadership roles in our community cannot speak out on these issues right now, despite their solidarity, because it could put their own safety at risk,” but “as those who can speak, we will not be silent.”

“Although we have different views on many things, we are resolute in our view that lawyers, elected officials, judges, and other government actors must abide by the rule of law,” the letter said. “And although we approach the topic of privacy from many different angles, we all agree that privacy is of great and fundamental importance to the rule of law and to democracy in general.”

The letter lists the current administration's actions that are of particular concern, including the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)’s access to sensitive personal information of millions in various government departments, allegedly in violation of the Privacy Act of 1974 “and the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act, which prevents the use of data or information that was acquired by an agency confidentially for statistical purposes from being used for any other (nonstatistical) purpose.” DOGE has been the target of many lawsuits in recent months, including one by federal employees (see 2504280027), the Electronic Frontier Foundation (see 2504170044) and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (see 2502110056).

The two groups additionally condoned using AI systems to monitor communications of federal employees, the creation of mass databases of sensitive information of individuals -- like the National Institutes of Health announcement that medical records will be compiled from commercial and federal databases as part of an autism study (see 2504230047) -- and gathering personal information on immigrant populations from data brokers, or other personal information about lawful permanent residents and those on long-term visas to commence deportations without proper due process, among other administration actions.

“These threats to privacy and the rule of law will harm us all, but the most vulnerable among us will bear a disproportionate share of the burden,” the letter said. “We strongly condemn these and other efforts that undermine basic privacy protections. We are ashamed of those lawyers enabling these violations and applaud efforts of those in the legal profession who are resisting and defending privacy.”

“Privacy, like the rule of law, is essential for democracy,” they said. “We stand united in support of these pillars of freedom.”