“Reliable data is the foundation of research, policy, and decision-making. Key federal datasets are being altered, restricted, or removed, making it harder to track trends, validate research, and plan for the future. At Social Explorer, we’re ensuring that doesn’t happen.”

Beyond independent efforts, there are reports that NOAA and national labs are also transferring critical datasets to universities, though specifics remain unclear.

What Data Is At Risk?

The datasets at risk span multiple disciplines, including climate science, environmental justice, public health, and demographic statistics. Some of the most concerning removals include:

• EPA’s EJSCREEN: The Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Justice Screening and Mapping Tool was quietly removed from its website, limiting public access to data on pollution exposure and racial disparities. This follows a similar move in 2017 when climate data was scrubbed from the agency’s web pages.
• NOAA Climate Data: There is speculation that NOAA’s archives on rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and ocean conditions could be altered or restricted.
• Census and Socioeconomic Data: The accuracy of datasets used for policymaking, including housing, labor, and economic inequality, may be undermined through changes in methodology or funding cuts.

A Repeat of 2017?

During the first Trump administration, scientific institutions and grassroots groups mobilized to back up federal data. Efforts such as DataRefuge and the Internet Archive’s End of Term Web Archive preserved petabytes of federal records that were later removed or altered.

With another potential data purge on the horizon, these organizations are once again in crisis mode, racing to identify and secure key datasets before they disappear.

The Future of Government Transparency

The push to save federal data underscores a larger battle over government transparency, public access to information, and the integrity of science-based policymaking. While groups like Social Explorer and Source Cooperative are leading the charge, they emphasize the need for continued vigilance and support from researchers, journalists, and the public.

As one archivist (speaking anonymously) put it: “History shows that when scientific information is controlled by politics, it is the public that suffers. We’re doing everything we can to make sure that knowledge is not lost.”

For those interested in supporting or contributing to these efforts, organizations such as EDGI, Source Cooperative, and Social Explorer welcome volunteers and donations to continue their mission of preserving public data in an era of uncertainty.