Archivists work to save disappearing data.gov datasets (404media.co)

Article summary

Over 2,000 datasets have disappeared from data.gov, a repository of US government open data, since Donald Trump's inauguration. Archivists are working to identify and save the deleted datasets, which disproportionately come from environmental science agencies. The deletions may be due to a combination of malicious information scrubbing and routine artifacts of administration change. Researchers are trying to determine what has happened to the deleted datasets and whether they still exist elsewhere.

Main themes

• Data preservation
• Government transparency
• Climate change research
• Administration change
• Information scrubbing
• Digital archiving

What commenters say

• The deletion of datasets from data.gov is a concerning trend that may be motivated by a desire to suppress information on climate change and other sensitive topics.
• The loss of datasets is not unique to the current administration and may be a result of routine changes in government priorities and procedures.
• The use of data.gov as a central repository for government data creates a single point of failure and makes it vulnerable to data loss and manipulation.
• There is a need for independent backup efforts and decentralized archiving to ensure the long-term preservation of government data.
• The deletion of datasets may be a deliberate attempt to undermine the work of previous administrations and suppress information that is inconvenient to the current government.
• The context and motivations behind the deletion of datasets are unclear and require further investigation to determine the extent of any malicious activity.
• The issue of data preservation highlights the importance of a robust and independent system for archiving and preserving government information.
• The deletion of datasets is a symptom of a broader problem of government secrecy and lack of transparency, which can have serious consequences for democracy and accountability.