Disappearing Federal Data

Information about disappearing or altered federal data sets.

What is Happening to Federal Data?

Starting on January 20, 2025, many federal websites and datasets have been taken offline to comply with various executive orders. Most notably, information and data from the CDC, EPA, and NIH have disappeared. Much of the targeted data is related to health disparities based on race, gender, and sexuality, factors often considered in health research. Federal data on education that touches on disparities in outcomes among different groups is also at risk. Some data that remain accessible online may have been scrubbed, corrupted, or otherwise altered.

This guide is designed to help the MHC community: 1) understand the current data landscape; 2) locate US federal government data that may have been removed; 3) gain awareness about data advocacy and rescue efforts currently underway; 4) suggest additional resources.

Readings and Background Information

Researchers Rush to Preserve Federal Health Databases Before They Disappear From Government Websites
The Journalist's Resource by Harvard Kennedy School, January 31, 2025
As Health Data Disappear From Government Websites, Experts Push Back
Harvard School of Public Health, February 5, 2025
Our Data Are Disappearing. Here is Why it Matters For us All
Minnesota Compass, February 14, 2025
Government Data is Disappearing Before Our Eyes
The Hill, March 19, 2025
What Happens to Health Research When 'Women' and 'Diversity' Are Banned Words?
PBS News, Mar 30, 2025

Data Rescue Efforts & Advocacy

Data Rescue Project
A coordinated effort among a group of data organizations to serve as a clearinghouse for data-rescue efforts.
The Data Rescue Tracker
A collaborative tool built to catalog existing public data rescue efforts.
Policy Common 2025 Open Collection
An initiative to rescue content from government organizations experiencing the removal of public information and data—ensuring long-term, free access for the public.
Environmental Data and Governance Initiative
The Environmental Data & Governance Initiative (EDGI) is a research collaborative and network of diverse professionals promoting evidence-based policy-making and public interest science that advances the Environmental Right-to-Know (ERTK).
The Data Liberation Project
An initiative to identify, obtain, reformat, clean, document, publish, and disseminate government datasets of public interest.
The PEGI Project (Preservation of Electronic Government Information)
An initiative to address national concerns about the preservation of culturally significant electronic information.
Harvard's Law Library Innovation Lab
This effort provides access to major datasets from data.gov, PubMed, and federal GitHub repositories.
Data Lumos
DataLumos is an ICPSR archive for valuable government data resources. ICPSR has a long commitment to safekeeping and disseminating US government and other social science data.
End of Term Web Archive
The End of Term Web Archive captures and saves U.S. Government websites at the end of presidential administrations.
GovWayBack
Access historical versions of U.S. government websites from before January 20, 2025 with a simple URL change.
IPUMS Census & Survey Data
Census and survey data from around the world; includes major data sources from the US government (Census, American Community Survey, Current Population Survey, GIS data, and more).
Columbia Law School Silencing Science Tracker
The Silencing Science Tracker tracks government attempts to restrict or prohibit scientific research, education or discussion, or the publication or use of scientific information.
Harvard University
In response to the administration's threats to withhold federal funding and grants, Harvard University has transformed their website into a hub of research and data advocacy.
Boston University School of Public Health -- Center for Health Data Science -- Find Lost Data
Provides an easy way to search for lost data and datasets across various sites.

Helpful Tools

Klaxton Cloud
A browser add-on that will send email notifications whenever there is an update to a page, as well as a link to the new snapshot.
GovDiff
Shows side-by-side changes to government websites.
DIffchecker
An easy intuitive tool to compare text and find the differences.
MIT's Checklist for USA Federal Data Backups
The checklist provides ways to ensure the government data you use remains accessible.
SAFE-Track
The Data Foundation's SAFE-Track portal provides a secure, encrypted channel for documenting changes to federal evidence and data activities.

Guidance for Retrieving Federal Rescued Data & Websites

This section provides strategies for retrieving missing or altered federal data and for locating archived versions of government websites.

Locating Rescued Data

1. Search data.gov:

Begin by searching data.gov to confirm whether the data is truly unavailable. It's possible that the dataset has been relocated.

2. Use the Internet Archive Wayback Machine:

The Gov Wayback tool is a specialized resource for retrieving federal government data archived in the Wayback Machine. By adding "wayback.org" to the URL of a .gov website, you can quickly access archived versions of government pages.

3. Check the Data Rescue Project's Data Rescue Tracker:

This tool monitors the status of federal datasets and can help locate rescued data.

4. Explore additional archives or repositories listed in this guide.

Locating Potentially Redacted Websites

If you suspect a government websites has been edited or redacted, the following steps can help confirm this.

1. Compare archived versions using the Wayback Machine.

Use the Internet Archive Wayback Machine to compare older snapshots of the webpage with more recent versions. This can reveal subtle differences. Consider using GovDiff.

2. Review the End of Term Archive.

These archives capture snapshots of federal websites at the end of each administration.

Contact Us

Please recommend links and other resources to be added to this page by emailing researchservices-g@mtholyoke.edu or reaching out to any contact in Research Services.