Authored by Zachary Stieber via The Epoch Times,
The federal government must stop transmitting lists of people officials say are confirmed or suspected noncitizens registered to vote, a U.S. judge ruled on Nov. 2.
Bulk disclosure of the lists to states likely violates the Privacy Act, which prohibits disclosure of identifiable personal information unless officials meet one of the exceptions, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan in the District of Columbia wrote in a 30-page ruling.
The law enforcement exception, for instance, does not apply because it requires the head of an agency to request records, and the government has not shown any such request, Chutkan said.
Officials also never published a systems of record notice, or SORN, which the act requires for new databases.
"This constitutes a violation of the Privacy Act's procedural requirements," Chutkan wrote. "As another court in this district has observed, 'it is flatly inconsistent with the text, structure, and purpose of the Privacy Act for an agency to initiate a major new data-sharing program affecting the sensitive data of millions of Americans' without publishing a SORN that covers the intended routine uses of the information."
The judge also concluded that no law authorizes the government's policy to
