Advisories

Editorial Board conclusions, referrals and warnings, each tied to cited sources.

Justice Department proposes Privacy Act exemptions for the Bureau of Justice Statistics' data collections — 2026-10-16, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Office of Justice Programs, Justice Department. The Bureau of Justice Statistics would exempt a new system of records covering its statistical data collections, which it says regularly include names, dates of birth, addresses and Social Security numbers, from the Privacy Act's access, amendment and notice provisions. Comments close November 16, 2026.
Immigration court agency proposes Privacy Act exemptions for its fraud program records — 2026-10-16, Executive Office for Immigration Review, Justice Department. The Executive Office for Immigration Review would exempt the records of its Fraud and Abuse Prevention Program, which cover complainants, witnesses, subjects of investigations, and EOIR staff or members of the public who report fraud, and are shared with law enforcement and disciplinary authorities, from the Privacy Act's access, amendment and disclosure-accounting provisions. Comments close November 16, 2026.
Justice Department proposes Privacy Act exemptions for its new firearms rights restoration database — 2026-10-08, Office of the Pardon Attorney, Justice Department. The Office of the Pardon Attorney would exempt its new Firearms Rights Restoration Electronic Records Database, which will hold applicants' personal, financial, health and criminal history information on an FBI system, from the Privacy Act's access, amendment and accuracy requirements. Comments close November 6, 2026.
IRS proposes opening Trump accounts automatically, with the tax data behind them held by Treasury's financial agent — 2026-10-03, Internal Revenue Service, Treasury Department. A proposed IRS rule would have the Treasury Secretary open a Trump account for each eligible individual without a sign-up, keep the return information used to do so with an unnamed financial agent, and require anyone claiming an account to prove their identity and authority. The notice does not cite a Privacy Act notice or privacy impact assessment for those records. Comments close November 30, 2026.
FTC asks whether search, social media and shopping platforms should answer for ad tools that spread government and business impersonation scams — 2026-10-02, Federal Trade Commission. The Federal Trade Commission has opened an advance notice asking whether to extend its 2024 Impersonation Rule to platforms whose ad-creation and targeting tools help impersonation scams reach consumers. The notice relies heavily on press reports and gives no figure for losses tied to platform ads specifically, which it asks commenters to supply. Comments close November 30, 2026.
Census Bureau proposes counting only citizens and permanent residents for apportionment, and dropping race questions from the 2030 form — 2026-10-01, Census Bureau, Commerce Department. A proposed Commerce Department rule would leave foreign nationals who are not lawful permanent residents out of apportionment counts, determine legal status largely from administrative and commercial records, and bar race, ethnicity and sexual-orientation questions from the census form. Comments close October 13, 2026.
Online passport renewal for Americans abroad: what the State Department proposes and what its privacy records cover — 2026-10-01, State Department. A proposed rule would let Americans in designated countries renew passports online and drop the one-year remaining-validity limit, saving an estimated $148.7 million a year. The privacy notice it relies on for passport records was last published in 2015, and neither the rule nor the system's privacy assessments describe how applicants abroad will be verified. Comments close October 27, 2026.
USCIS plans to wind down its Genealogy Program as historical immigration files move to the National Archives — 2026-10-01, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Homeland Security Department. A proposed DHS rule would end USCIS Genealogy Program access to each series of historical immigration files once it is transferred to the National Archives, and describes the program's eventual discontinuation. The rule assumes requesting from the Archives costs researchers the same. Comments close October 20, 2026.