Newsletter Archive

• Take Action — Collection and Use of Biometrics by USCIS and more

  December 15, 2025

  by Meghan Maury

  Data Regulation of the Week:
  Collection and Use of Biometrics by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. Among other things, this proposed rule would require submission of biometrics by any individual - regardless of age - filing or associated with an immigration benefit request; expand biometrics collection authority; codify and expand DNA testing, use, and storage; modify how VAWA self-petitioners and T nonimmigrant status applicants demonstrate good moral character; and clarify biometrics collection purposes. DNA use changes include testing for "biological sex" and for genetic relationship between family members.
  Comments due January 2.

  
  Every time the government makes a change to a survey or a form — or introduces a new survey or form — you have the right to weigh in on that decision. The Take Action! newsletter highlights surveys or forms the government is changing, renewing, or introducing. Click the links to tell the government what you think about the changes they are making.

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• Take Action! Master Files of Social Security Number (SSN) Holders and SSN Applications and More

  December 08, 2025

  by Meghan Maury

  Data Sharing Notice of the Week: Master Files of Social Security Number (SSN) Holders and SSN Applications. Through this notice, SSA is announcing its intention to share citizenship and immigration data with DHS and to share data with Treasury for the purpose of identifying, preventing, or recouping fraud and improper payments.  Comments due December 12.

  Every time the government makes a change to a survey or a form — or introduces a new survey or form — you have the right to weigh in on that decision. The Take Action! newsletter highlights surveys or forms the government is changing, renewing, or introducing. Click the links to tell the government what you think about the changes they are making.

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• In Remembrance of Dearly Departed Federal Datasets

  October 31, 2025

  by Denice Ross

  ^{cross-posted from Federation of American Scientists}

  There’s been lots of talk – and some numbers (often in the thousands) –  about disappearing federal datasets, especially after many went dark last January when agencies rushed to scrub the perceived spectre of data on gender, DEI, and climate from the public record. Most of those datasets have returned from the dead, some permanently changed by the experience. 

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• Uncovering Additional Threats to Food Security Data: Why the “Redundancy” Claim Doesn’t Hold Up

  October 29, 2025

  by Melanie Klein, Beth Jarosz, Ronette Briefel, and Gina Plata-Nino

  In late September, USDA terminated the Food Security Supplement (FSS) to the Current Population Survey (CPS), calling it “redundant” and “extraneous.” Since we began debunking those claims in a blog post, Forsaking Food Security, and in our Rapid Response Data Briefing, additional information has surfaced that further challenges USDA’s rationale.

  While USDA claims it will rely on “more timely and accurate data sets,” our review found that none of the national surveys that collect food security data using USDA food security survey modules are capable of replacing the CPS-FSS. The CPS-FSS is unique because it is collected annually, is nationally representative, has a large sample size, provides robust prevalence and state-level estimates, uses the full 18-item food security questionnaire, and captures adult and child experiences. 

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• How You Can (and should) Shape Federal Data Collections

  October 17, 2025

  by Meghan Maury and Christopher Marcum

  The dataindex.us project revels in revealing insights into federal data - and who gets to influence them. Every survey you fill out, every federal form you complete, and every dataset you use has a backstory.  Each one went through a careful and surprisingly democratic process before the first question was ever asked. Often, individuals and organizations are part of that backstory and have a voice in how the government collects and shares data. 

  This process, established by the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA), gives the public the opportunity to weigh in on how - and whether - the federal government collects data.  It’s an underappreciated part of how democracy functions: ordinary people help shape the information the government uses to make decisions about everything from school funding to disaster relief.

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