Author: Amy Lauren Fairchild, University Professor of Sociology, Syracuse University

Federal datasets began disappearing from public view on Jan. 31, 2025, in response to executive orders from President Donald Trump. Among those were the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which asks respondents about their gender identity and sexual orientation and tracks behaviors like smoking and drug use; CDC’s HIV dataset; and CDC and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease registry’s Environmental Justice Index, which tracks pollution in communities, and Social Vulnerability Index, which identifies communities at high risk for disease and disability. The collection of public health surveillance data has never been politically neutral. It…