Privacy-boosting tech could prevent breaches, data misuse with government aid, report says

The New America Open Technology Institute report comes amid DOGE access to sensitive government agency information that has alarmed experts.

Governments should prioritize the use of privacy-boosting technologies like encryption, de-identification and hashing to prevent breaches and data misuse, a report that New America’s Open Technology Institute published Tuesday recommends.

The study comes as cyber and privacy experts warn about the dangers of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) accessing sensitive information at federal agencies, also the subject of numerous court challenges. Last week, an executive order on information sharing across the federal bureaucracy also raised alarms about civil liberties risks.

So-called “privacy enhancing technologies,” or PETs, could safeguard against unauthorized access like DOGE’s, said the report’s author, Sydney Saubestre.

“Data sharing is really important, but obviously so is privacy,” she said. “They’re equally important and they’re equally critical, and they shouldn’t necessarily be in opposition to each other. One of the ways that you can remove some of the risk around data sharing is to make sure that you have a privacy-first approach to data sharing, and PETs are a really great way to accomplish that.”

PETs include more commonly known terms like encryption, but also lesser-known tech like synthetic data, which is computer-generated information that reflects properties of real-world data but doesn’t contain any authentic personal information.

The report recommends that governments incentivize the advancement of those technologies by establishing procurement policies that use long-term contracts that provide ongoing revenue streams, thereby ensuring additional investment. It also endorses the writing of guidelines and using grants.

A National Science Foundation-led program created last year sought to boost the use of PETs.

The Trump administration, in addition to engaging in the kinds of activities that such technologies could prevent, also has sought to cut back on many grant programs. Smaller organizations and state governments might be best suited to take up the report’s recommendations right now, Saubestre said.

“There is an urgent need for public sector stakeholders to prioritize securely using data to drive positive outcomes while upholding the privacy and rights of individuals,” the report states.

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• The G7 tells industry to hurry up and prep for post-quantum encryption

Technology

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• Wyden seeks upgraded NSA security guidance on commercial VPN use

• The Collective Cyber Defense letter wrote your next vendor questionnaire

Threats

• Chinese espionage groups swarm to exploit triple-link chain of zero-days

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• ‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure