Government Registries Are Not Research, They Are Surveillance

RFK Jr.’s plan to use millions millions of Americans’ private health records—including smartwatch and genomic data—to study autism is a reckless overreach masquerading as science. This isn’t about understanding autism. It’s about SURVEILLANCE at scale. And it’s being led by an administration that’s already proven it CANNOT BE TRUSTED with sensitive information. How can we trust a rushed, massive data operation from the same administration that DEPORTED U.S. citizens, FIRED career scientists, and IGNORED court orders? If the Trump administration can’t reliably distinguish between a citizen and a non-citizen—or refuses to—how can we believe it will handle sensitive autism research without BIAS , ERROR, or HARM? Sloppy data leads to sloppy conclusions. And in the wrong hands, that’s not just bad science—it’s bad DANGEROUS policy. One bad data match and a child gets labeled. One flawed theory and whole communities are stigmatized. Autism deserves research rooted in compassion, not control. What’s being proposed here is a registry, not a remedy. We’ve seen where government registries can lead when WEAPONIZED—ask any historian. Or any parent of a disabled child watching this unfold with dread. You have a duty to press pause on this data grab. Demand transparency. Demand independent oversight. Demand CONSENT. If this is really about health, then start by protecting the people whose lives are on the line.