Roughly 80% of Americans feel they have virtually no control over the information government agencies collect about them. This startling figure comes amid revelations that the US government operates what privacy experts describe as the most advanced surveillance and data collection system on the planet—a sprawling digital apparatus that tracks, categorizes, and analyzes citizens with minimal oversight or transparency.
It’s a system that evolved not through a single mastermind plan, but through what one privacy advocate calls “the hodge-podge approach to data governance”—dozens of overlapping programs spread across multiple agencies, each with their own rules and justifications, creating what amounts to a master database of sensitive information that would make DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) salivate.
When Your Identity System Gets Completely Compromised
The federal government’s relationship with your data resembles an obsessive ex who refuses to delete your photos. Despite lacking comprehensive privacy legislation, agencies continue amassing vast data repositories through various means. The Privacy Act of 1974 supposedly governs how federal entities collect information, but it predates the internet and smartphones by decades.
Eight federal agencies have acknowledged that this antiquated approach creates significant civil liberties concerns. The current regulatory landscape resembles a game of whack-a-mole rather than coherent policy. Without a unified framework equivalent to Europe’s GDPR, Americans find themselves in a perpetual state of digital vulnerability.
Tech companies sell your browsing habits, and government agencies happily purchase this information—sometimes without warrants—creating a surveillance backdoor that’s technically legal but ethically dubious. As one Brennan Center investigation revealed, this has led to FBI personnel running searches on American citizens for reasons ranging from legitimate security concerns to “improper personal purposes.”
The Way They Track Citizen Information
When you imagine government data collection, you might picture serious-looking agents meticulously analyzing security threats. The reality is more bureaucratic and significantly more expansive. Since April 2017, the government has reported countless FBI queries that were not reasonably likely to return foreign-intelligence information or evidence of crime—a surveillance net cast so wide it captures virtually everything.
Law enforcement and intelligence agencies maintain systems that integrate data from diverse sources: your driver’s license photo, social security information, shopping habits, online activity, and even facial recognition from public cameras. This creates digital profiles so comprehensive they potentially know your buying preferences better than you do.
The scope extends beyond traditional notions of security. According to the Government Accountability Office, there’s no comprehensive law governing private companies’ collection, use, or sale of internet users’ data to government entities, leaving consumers with limited assurance their privacy will be protected.
Americans Want Total Control But End Badly
The disconnect between public expectations and reality creates a volatile situation. According to Pew Research findings, 72% of Americans believe there should be more government regulation of what companies can do with customer information. Yet simultaneously, they express profound distrust in the government’s own data handling practices.
This paradox—wanting government intervention while fearing government overreach—reveals the complicated relationship Americans have with institutional power in the digital age. Many express concerns about companies selling their information without consent (42%) and identity theft (38%), yet remain confused about potential solutions when government itself represents part of the problem.
The tech-savvy increasingly turn toward encryption tools and Signal’s encrypted messaging, but this creates another wrinkle: government officials themselves are now using these same systems to communicate beyond public records laws, creating what some transparency advocates call “the vanishing act” of official communications.
Verify Citizens System Must Undergo Information Compromise
Industry watchers note that multiple federal agencies are quietly developing new identification systems that could fundamentally transform how citizens interact with government services. These projects often begin with reasonable justifications—preventing fraud, securing benefits, or improving service delivery—before expanding into broader surveillance applications.
The growing use of artificial intelligence in data analysis raises additional concerns. These tools can identify patterns across seemingly disparate datasets, creating insights that may be valuable for security but problematic for privacy. When algorithms make governance decisions, the traditional accountability mechanisms designed for human officials become increasingly irrelevant.
As digital networks and infrastructure grow more essential, the tension between security and privacy will only intensify. Without meaningful reform and transparent oversight mechanisms, Americans will continue feeling what researchers describe as “concerned, confused and lacking control” over their most personal information—all while the systems tracking them grow increasingly sophisticated, interconnected, and invisible to those being watched.