privacy
Every record this desk has filed under privacy, newest first, each with the number of sources it can still show you.
Google turns on request storage by default for new paid Gemini API projects
Google's October 26 release note says new paid Gemini API projects now store Generate Content requests by default. Existing projects keep their settings. Developers can turn logging off for a project or set store=false on a request; Google's guide says ordinary logs have a default 55-day retention window, while logs saved to datasets do not expire.
Also filed undergooglegemini-apidata-retentiondeveloper-tools
ORR health-form request describes limited sharing with DHS when children leave for repatriation
An ORR information-collection notice published October 26 describes sharing limited health information with DHS when a child with healthcare needs leaves ORR custody for DHS-led repatriation. The stated purpose is continuity of care, and the notice says data is not shared for immigration enforcement. Comments on the proposed collection are due November 25.
Also filed underimmigrationchildrenhealth-recordspublic-comments
Saving people's AI prompts should require a choice
Google now stores Generate Content requests by default for new paid Gemini API projects. Existing projects keep their settings, and developers can opt out. I want an affirmative storage choice before the first request, with an explanation that reaches the people responsible for other people's material. An available setting is useful; it should not carry the whole burden of consent.
Also filed underopinionfreedomaidata-retention
A message should be allowed to end
Almost everything we say to each other now outlives the moment it was meant for. Wisp, a product I work on, sends a video or note designed for one view, with deletion triggered when it opens and the sender's email hidden from the recipient.
Also filed underwispfreedomcommunicationproduct-launch
FCC revises robocall consent rules; a one-step 'revoke all' option remains a proposal
A final FCC rule scheduled for October 26 Federal Register publication will allow callers, once effective, to treat an informational opt-out as limited to that category and designate an exclusive revocation method. Telemarketing opt-outs still cover future telemarketing from that caller. A separate proposal asks about a one-step way to revoke all consent and a shorter processing deadline; neither proposal is an adopted requirement.
Also filed underfccrobocallsconsumer-protectionconsentpublic-comments
ICE proposes a standardized FOIA request form and estimates half an hour to complete it
ICE seeks review of a new form for people requesting agency records, estimating 58,748 respondents and 29,374 annual burden hours. The notice is scheduled for October 26 Federal Register publication and requests comments on the collection. It describes identity checks and information-sharing limits, but does not establish that the form is already mandatory or that requested records will be released.
Also filed undericefoiapublic-recordspaperworkpublic-comments
GAO finds service-member record breaches and delays, with five recommendations still open
Military services reported 49 breaches during fiscal years 2021–2025, and GAO's covert test found an improper release among 18 processed requests. A report released October 16 connects records-processing problems to staffing and fragmented health-record systems. Its five recommendations remained open when read October 17; the findings do not establish that a particular person's records were exposed.
Also filed undergaomilitary-recordsoversightpublic-accountability
An executive order directs the General Services Administration to make America.gov the single online entry point for covered federal services, with Login.gov to handle sign-in
Executive Order 14432, signed September 29 and published October 2, directs the General Services Administration to run America.gov as the single online entry point for covered federal services: those with more than 100,000 users in 12 months, minus IRS tax filing and services the Department of War and Intelligence Community elements provide. Login.gov is to be its sign-in service. The order's one deadline: the Office of Management and Budget owes agencies an implementation memo within 90 days, December 28 by this desk's count.
Also filed underamerica-govexecutive-orderlogin-govdigital-identityfederal-register
GAO could count DOGE-accessible systems. It could not establish the permissions.
A September 29 review of six agencies found incomplete access and security-control records. Four reported access to more than 23 systems containing sensitive information. The finding is a gap in assurance—not proof of a breach.
Also filed undergovernmentcybersecurityaccountability
ChatGPT's credit-score feature, rolling out since September 21 to U.S. Plus and Pro subscribers, comes with terms under which enrolling counts as 'written instructions' under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, letting OpenAI and Experian obtain and access information from the user's credit profile for purposes that include creating 'new features, products and functionality'. OpenAI's promise to delete the underlying report data within 30 days of disconnecting is in a help article, not in the terms.
On September 21 OpenAI began rolling out a credit-score feature in ChatGPT's Finances section to Plus and Pro subscribers in the U.S. It shows an Experian credit report and a VantageScore 3.0 score, updated monthly, through a soft inquiry that OpenAI says does not affect the score. Credit Score Terms published the same day say that enrolling provides 'written instructions' under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act for OpenAI and its service provider, CSIdentity Corporation, which the terms call Experian, to obtain information from the user's credit profile. The listed purposes run from verifying identity and providing the score to improving the service and creating 'new features, products and functionality'. Finances conversations follow the user's ChatGPT model-training setting, and the terms point to how to opt out of training. OpenAI's help article says disconnecting Experian stops the sharing and deletes the underlying report data from OpenAI's systems within 30 days, but does not remove what is in past conversations or saved financial memories. The terms themselves say nothing about disconnecting, revoking or deleting.
Also filed underaiopenaichatgptcredit-scoresexperianfair-credit-reporting-actterms-of-service
The Supreme Court let the Homeland Security Department's SAVE program go back to checking registered voters' citizenship against Social Security records by pausing a June 22 ruling that had set the modified program aside; the majority said the 90-day federal moratorium on systematic removals limits the stay's potential impact before November 3 but does not bar one-by-one inquiries, and three justices dissented.
On September 25 the Supreme Court granted the Department of Homeland Security's application in No. 26A308 and stayed a June 22 district court order that had set aside the modified SAVE program. That version checks voters' names, dates of birth and full or partial Social Security numbers against Social Security Administration records and allows bulk searches; when it cannot confirm citizenship, the agency that asked must request proof from the voter to register or stay registered. The unsigned majority found the challengers likely have standing through a naturalized citizen in Louisiana whose Social Security record is out of date, but said their claims likely fail because 8 U.S.C. 1373 authorizes DHS to request and receive citizenship information from other agencies. It said the National Voter Registration Act's 90-day bar limits the stay's potential impact before federal elections, while individualized inquiries remain permitted. Justice Jackson, joined by Justices Sotomayor and Kagan, dissented. The stay is not a merits ruling; the government's appeal continues in the D.C. Circuit. The general election is November 3, 2026.
Also filed undersupreme-courtvotingelectionsdhssocial-securitycitizenship
From November 16, states must hand confidential unemployment records to federal officials on request for oversight and audits. Labor declined commenters' requests to bar immigration-enforcement use, to notify claimants, or to list which data is covered.
A Labor Department final rule published September 16 and effective November 16, 2026 turns an optional disclosure into a required one: every state unemployment agency must give 'confidential UC information' to a federal official who asks for it for unemployment program oversight and audits. The Labor Department, its inspector general and GAO can ask without explanation; other federal officials must ask in writing, state the use and cite their authority. The department says it is fighting fraud, citing $45.6 billion in potentially fraudulent benefits identified by its inspector general. It did not list which data elements are covered, did not define 'Federal official', declined a proposed ban on immigration-enforcement use, and adds no notice to claimants. It says the rule creates no new uses and no national claims database, and that it does not reach eligibility decisions. States that must change their own laws have until September 16, 2027.
Also filed underlabor-departmentunemployment-insurancedata-sharingfederal-register
A record appears here because it carries privacy in its own tags. If a record you expected is missing, it was filed under a different subject — the full list is on the topics index.