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submitted 13 hours ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/news@lemmy.world

The National Design Studio, staffed by DOGE veterans, installed visitor-tracking software on vital federal websites

An opaque White House office staffed largely by veterans of Elon Musk’s “department of government efficiency” (DOGE) has quietly rebuilt some of the federal government’s most sensitive websites – for passport applications, voter registration, prescription-drug pricing and children’s savings – in ways critics say appear to violate federal law.

A Guardian investigation has found the office has apparently been developing or redeveloping sensitive federal websites, including those connecting Americans with prescription drugs, children’s savings accounts, passports and voter registration. The investigation corroborates and advances earlier reporting by the Drey Dossier, a YouTube investigative outlet.

The NDS built and now operates four public federal websites: ndstudio.gov, trumprx.gov, realfood.gov and trumpaccounts.gov. All four ran commercial visitor-tracking software, configured to evade the privacy tools many web users install, and none carry the public filings federal privacy law requires under laws including the Privacy Act of 1974 and the E-Government Act of 2002.

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[-] boydster@sh.itjust.works 26 points 13 hours ago

Hat's off to The Drey Dossier for being way out in front of this story, and super glad to see it on more mainstream news

[-] mayabuttreeks@lemmy.ca 9 points 12 hours ago

Right?? I saw the headline and clicked immediately hoping to see her credited; good on the Guardian for putting more eyes on this.

[-] TryingToBeGood@reddthat.com 3 points 10 hours ago

Even the regular government websites, never very robust to begin with, are worse under these dimwits. Parts of the FDA site regularly go down. (Am a legal analyst who goes through a couple dozen government websites every day.)

this post was submitted on 28 Jun 2026
79 points (100.0% liked)

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