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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

Data Rescue Efforts & Advocacy

Helpful Tools

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