GAO recommends new agency to streamline how US government protects citizens’ data

The GAO recommends Congress create a centralized federal office to provide government-wide, technology-agnostic guidance for safeguarding civil rights and civil liberties in agencies’ use of personal data, citing uneven practices across 24 agencies, gaps in oversight roles, and challenges posed by emerging technologies like facial recognition and AI; it warns that without coherent policy and authority, agencies risk misidentification, bias, and rights violations, and calls for explicit authority to make necessary technical and policy decisions.