Availability of Federal Data: Policy Considerations for Disclosure, Preservation, and Governance

Federal data can provide valuable information for various audiences—from farmers seeking to protect bats that eat crop-harming insects to local efforts determining where to rebuild to avoid coastal flooding. In 2013, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) described openly available federal data and statistical information as “a valuable national resource and strategic asset” that, when made accessible, discoverable, and usable by the public, “can help fuel entrepreneurship, innovation, and scientific discovery.” Efforts to make federal data more readily available have evolved over time. Such data may have been stored and filed in hard and paper copies and later in software and electronic formats. Today, certain data may be retrieved through agency websites or on Data.gov. Data.gov itself is a case study for open data, intended to demonstrate that making federal data available can help agencies avoid duplicative internal research, enable the discovery of complementary datasets held by other agencies, and empower employees to make better-informed, data-driven decisions, among other benefits. Throughout 2025, media reports have suggested that the availability of federal data has been reduced. Some observers are also tracking the removal of specific datasets, variables, and tools. In parallel, changing public perspectives on data availability may demand new levels of data access, such as making data available for predictable periods of time, in a variety of software-compatible formats, and with appropriate descriptive metadata for easing findability and usability of the information. While statute discusses when and how information is to be added to Data.gov, it does not explain whether and how information may be removed. Although researchers and the public may derive value from being able to trace data over time to determine changes in trends or collection methods, the statute does not explicitly consider versioning requirements for agency data. However, requiring these attributes for Data.gov may help address or clarify difficulties in measuring data availability. Congress may be interested in determining whether there are trends to certain data becoming available or to when data is altered and removed. Such trends may provide insight and direction for Congress to further examine agency activities or make decisions to support new data use cases. Information availability, of which data availability is a type, can be considered the intersection of when and how information is released. Section 3542 of Title 44 of the U.S. Code defines information availability as “ensuring timely and reliable access to and use of information.” Generally, statute and associated OMB guidance contemplates two types of information availability in terms of timing: (1) proactive disclosure and information dissemination and (2) request-based disclosure. Certain types of data have specific requirements in terms of formatting and structure to ensure that the information can be made available and potentially archived. This report examines the variables of federal data availability and its policy underpinnings. The report discusses the state and concept of federal data availability and explains the information life cycle framework. It explains how information may be made available proactively or upon request through existing mechanisms and also explains statutory requirements for information dissemination, preservation, and whether and when information can be removed. The report concludes with policy options for Congress, including a review of efforts to preserve federal data through web captures; examining controls to assess data versioning, sourcing, and modifications; and, finally, considerations for implementing data governance and transparency mechanisms throughout agency structures.