Privacy-Preserving Identity and Data Systems

Government has a responsibility to design digital systems that protect individual privacy while enabling efficient public services. Unlike private sector platforms that monetize personal data, government systems must be designed around data minimization and user control.

My work focuses on building systems that retain no more information than necessary and for no longer than necessary. The Vote.gov voter registration form tool operates entirely client-side, producing a completed PDF for users to print and mail - we never see the data at all. This demonstrates that effective government services can be built without surveillance.

Beyond individual tools, I've led development of privacy-preserving identity systems that use government data rather than private sector data brokers, and explored information sharing architectures that minimize data sharing even between parts of government. In these systems, users remain in control of what information is shared and with whom - treating data portability and consent as fundamental rights, not convenience features.

The core challenge is proving that privacy and usability can coexist - that protecting people's information doesn't require creating barriers to accessing government services.