I found a second vote.gov – and it's registered to the White House
5 hours ago
- #Digital Transparency
- #Government Surveillance
- #Federal Infrastructure
- The National Design Studio (NDS), established by executive order in 2025 and led by Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia, is redesigning federal digital services while operating with minimal transparency.
- NDS uses Section 3161 hiring authority to employ staff as temporary advisors, bypassing standard federal oversight, salary disclosures, and ethics reviews, similar to the controversial DOGE.
- NDS-built websites like TrumpRx.gov secretly collect user data via analytics tools like PostHog and custom JavaScript (AutoMonitor), recording IP addresses and behavior without proper privacy disclosures.
- Certificate transparency logs reveal about 40 unannounced federal websites (e.g., previews of vote.gov, fbi-kirk-tipline) hosted on White House infrastructure via a personal Cloudflare account.
- NDS is centralizing control of critical federal services (e.g., Login.gov, voter registration, passport applications) under White House infrastructure, potentially violating laws and privacy safeguards.
- Key personnel from DOGE, such as Greg Hogan and Akash Bobba, now hold influential roles in NDS, managing sensitive systems like federal identity login and agency security without full oversight.
- Missing required legal documents (Privacy Impact Assessments, System of Records Notices) across NDS programs indicate systematic violations of post-Watergate surveillance prevention laws.
- The Presidential Records Act will seal NDS operations for 12 years after the administration ends, preventing public scrutiny of data collection and staff activities until 2040.