Trump shatters data privacy norms
The Big Story
The Trump administration is shattering norms around the handling of Americans' personal — and sometimes private — information, dismantling barriers concerning data in the name of government efficiency and rooting out fraud.
Privacy experts say the moves bring the country closer to a surveillance state, increases the government's vulnerability to cyberattacks and risk pushing people away from public services.
The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has sought, and nearly always received, access to Social Security numbers, addresses, medical histories, tax histories, welfare benefits, bank accounts, immigration statuses and federal employee databases.
These moves have shattered walls that have long kept data within the agencies that collect it.
John Ackerly, a former technology policy adviser under former President George W. Bush and founder of data security firm Virtru, said government agencies need to strike a balance in handling data.
'Foundationally, more information being shared more widely can provide greater insight,' he said.
'Bureaucracy shuts down access to information,' he added. 'But that does not mean that there should be unfettered access.'
Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) see the risk of abuse as outweighing any potential gains.
'We should be limiting federal agencies to access data about us only to the extent they need to perform their duties for the American people,' said Cody Venzke, senior policy counsel on surveillance, privacy and technology at the ACLU.
'There's no reason why these data silos need to be broken down,' he added.
Despite outrage from Democrats and some pushback from the courts, the Trump administration has charged ahead.
'President Trump signed an executive order keeping his promise to eliminate information silos and streamline data collection across all agencies to increase government efficiency and save hard-earned taxpayer dollars,' Taylor Rogers, a White House assistant press secretary, said in a statement.
The Hill's Amalia Hout-Marchand has more in a full report.
Welcome to The Hill's Technology newsletter, we're Miranda Nazzaro and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
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Crypto Corner
Reps. Miller, Nunn talk crypto legislation, tax provisions
Welcome to Crypto Corner, a daily feature focused on digital currency and its outlook in Washington.
The Hill's Miranda Nazzaro caught up with Reps. Max Miller (R-Ohio) and Zach Nunn (R-Iowa) today at the 2025 Bitcoin Policy Institute Summit.
They talked cryptocurrency legislation in the House, tax provisions for digital assets and the need for more bipartisan conversations on the topic.
Here's her takeaways from the convo:
On the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, a bill to establish a regulatory framework for digital assets in the U.S.:
Nunn, a member of both the House Financial Services and Agricultural Committee, said he hopes the bill, if passed, would avoid the 'regulatory flip flop' that drives markets overseas.
He's confident it will make its way through Congress, saying 'there is a real belief at this point there can be success.'
On working with the Senate, Nunn urged members of the upper chamber to 'take a couple pages out of the House version' when it comes to market structure.
Miller echoed Nunn, saying Senate members are a 'little late to the game, little late to the game on a lot of things, to be quite honest.'
'I believe that…they [Senators] should take a stronger look at our bill and work with us in a much more pragmatic fashion for all of us and the American people, to continue to innovate moving forwards,' Miller said.
It comes as some House lawmakers push to combine both the market structure and stablecoin bills together at the same time, possibly as soon as next month. The Senate's stablecoin bill, the GENUIS Act, passed earlier this month and was sent to the House for consideration this week.
Miller, who sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, advocated for more tax policy when it comes to crypto.
'When it comes to cryptocurrency and a tax, as we all know, we're the world's reserve currency, if we go ahead and put a tax on cryptocurrency in a very responsible and a pragmatic way….I believe that cryptocurrency will continue to expand and grow wildly, backed by the United States government, putting that framework in balls and strikes,' Miller said.
The Ohio Republican said he is working with Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wy.) on a wash sale rule for crypto. A wash sale is when someone sells a security at a loss to take a deduction on their taxes, but then immediately repurchases the same security.
Cryptocurrencies are currently exempt from the wash sale rule, but Lummis has proposed removing that exemption.
'If that [wash sale rule] gets in with the tax code, then that unlocks many things, it unlocks bonus depreciation, it unlocks de minimis,' Miller said, adding it would 'benefit all of you in the industry that would invest in it and use it wildly.'
Both Miller and Nunn agreed crypto is becoming more of a bipartisan issue in Congress, but Miller noted it is still 'not enough' progress.
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