The fight of President Trump against "information silos" represents bad news for your personal data.

Recently, a presidential executive order titled “Stop Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos” was issued on March 20. This measure grants the federal government the ability to consolidate all unclassified material from various government databases. Although it may seem like a minor step compared to other more drastic decisions affecting vital agencies, the order has gone unnoticed, overshadowed by other significant events.

At first glance, the order appears sensible. The term "silo," which refers to the practice of isolating information, suggests waste. Isolated information deprives organizations of the benefits that come from data collaboration, leading to decisions made with incomplete information and unnecessary duplication of projects. Stories illustrating the disasters caused by silos in the business sphere are abundant. If the goal is to eradicate waste, eliminating silos could be beneficial. For instance, if a real estate company provides fraudulent valuations to lenders and insurers, the ability to access that data could reveal such irregularities.

However, it is important to proceed with caution. Silos also perform a crucial function in protecting sensitive personal data, especially those maintained by the government. Privacy is a clear motivation for keeping certain data, such as medical records and tax returns, separate. Current laws limit access to this information, but the new order could allow any federal official to access it at the president's discretion.

Concerns about privacy are heightened with the possibility that the government could compile detailed information about individuals into a single file. According to a privacy expert, it is essential that data be collected only for specific legal purposes and used exclusively for those purposes, preventing the government from treating this information as a readily accessible resource at any time.

Furthermore, there are practical reasons to maintain silos. For example, the IRS has a system that allows certain taxpayers to pay taxes, including those without legal status in the country. If those silos were dissolved, the collection of those taxes could be compromised. The same logic applies to census data, which is protected to encourage citizen participation.

Creating a centralized database that contains consolidated information could be an attractive target for hackers and criminals, and the government has not shown a good track record in protecting sensitive data. Although the order states that consolidation must be “consistent with applicable law,” it seems to contradict the Privacy Act of 1974, which limits “computer matching.” However, it is also mentioned that the order may prevail over any regulation under the president's authority.

On the other hand, the order also grants the government broad access to data from state programs receiving federal funding, which implies that the boundaries between public and private information could be breached.

While the position of the DOGE, an agency seeking access to unclassified records, was not mentioned in the order, it has demonstrated a consistent interest in obtaining personal information since its inception. In a recent ruling, a federal judge ordered a temporary restraining order on the DOGE's attempts to access social security records, deemed an unjustified “fishing expedition” into the personal affairs of millions.

While there is no opposition to efficiency in government operations, caution is necessary. The March 20 order could lead to a significant loss of the accuracy of our databases, affecting revenues and, above all, our privacy. The elimination of silos could create a void that we will regret.