Privacy advocates are concerned that the government’s access to vast amounts of data could be used to target political enemies by using personal information such as bankruptcy, criminal history, and medical claims to punish individuals or suspend benefits they receive.
Jamie Ruskin, a Democrat from Maryland, argues that there is no need for universal government access to everyone’s data for fraud detection, as creating a centralized database could lead to fraud and political retaliation.
Ruskin compares the tracking and use of personal data in authoritarian countries like Russia and China, where citizen data is used to target enemies and suppress opposition.
The White House has not directly addressed concerns about how the consolidated data will be protected or used, focusing only on fraud prevention.
Engineers caution against using complex datasets to make decisions about government programs, warning that artificial intelligence could lead to errors and harm.
National security experts warn that a large collection of data about American citizens could be a target for enemy nations, hackers, and cybercriminals.
Privacy advocates point out that while private companies and data brokers collect a lot of data about Americans, only the federal government has the power to use that data for enforcement purposes.
The issue of privacy boils down to who knows what about an individual and what they can legally or practically do with that information.
Source: www.nytimes.com