Alaska’s Privacy Leak: A Big Mistake with Big Consequences

The state of Alaska has a rule that says the details people give when they sign up to vote are private. That means ages, Social Security numbers, driver’s license numbers and even the places people were born should not be shared without a good reason. The law also lets voters keep their home address secret if they want. Alaska’s leaders—Governor Mike Dunleavy, Lieutenant Governor Nancy Dahlstrom and temporary Attorney General Stephen Cox—gave a large amount of that private data to the U. S. Department of Justice because the federal government asked for it. They did this even though courts have said that the DOJ does not have the right to get those records. The information was handed over without a legal requirement. The officials say they followed the law and that a thorough review happened before sending the data. But critics point out that the written agreement they signed with the Justice Department actually says the state will remove voters it deems ineligible, and then send the updated list back to the federal agency for verification. That is a clear shift of responsibility from Alaska’s own elections office to the DOJ.Alaska voters deserve to know that their personal information was shared and that the state’s own lawyers did not include safeguards in the agreement. The claim that “Alaska remains firmly in charge of its voter rolls” is not accurate; the agreement gives the DOJ a key role in cleaning the list. The leaders who approved this deal have not been held accountable. They seem to be following a policy of saying yes to any federal request that comes from the former president. This has raised questions about how privacy is protected and whether voters can trust their data will stay confidential. The situation shows that even in a state with strict privacy laws, officials can still make mistakes. It also reminds voters to stay informed and ask for transparency about how their personal data is handled.