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Navigating Government Databases

Government data resources and tools to navigate them.

Welcome!

How you use government data every day:

Government data Use and Regulation:

Data.Gov:

Opening government data increases citizen participation in government, creates opportunities for economic development, and informs decision making in both the private and public sectors.

Data.gov implements The OPEN Government Data Act (Title II of the Foundations for Evidence-Based Policymaking Act of 2018, Public Law 115-435). The OPEN Government Data Act makes Data.gov a requirement in statute, rather than a policy. It requires federal agencies to publish their information online as open data, using standardized, machine-readable data formats, with their metadata included in the Data.gov catalog.

Freedom of Information Act: 

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) gives any person the right to request access to records of the Executive Branch of the United States Government. The records requested must be disclosed unless they are protected by one or more of the exempt categories of information found in the FOIA.

U.S. Privacy Laws: The Complete Guide:

HIPPA: Enacted in 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is a federal privacy protection law that safeguards individuals’ medical information. 

U.S. Privacy Act of 1974: The federal government passed the U.S. Privacy Act of 1974 to enhance individual privacy protection. This act established rules and regulations regarding U.S. government agencies' collection, use, and disclosure of personal information.

COPPA: Congress enacted the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) in 1998 to protect the online privacy of minors under the age of 13.