In the data engineering and data science spheres, I like to joke that no data means no problems! It’s a pessimistic joke that plays on the ambiguity of how we define both data and problems. In the simplest case, storing and accessing data is hard, but if you have no data, you don’t have to worry about this. Even if you can store and access data, but you have no data to indicate a problem, again you have no problems. Finally, suppose you had data and were solving problems using that data, then suddenly you cannot access that data. Now, you can no longer solve those problems, and once again you have no problems to worry about.

Underlying all of this, of course, is that no data is actually a very big problem. It is well understood that informed decisions lead to fewer mistakes, which in turns leads to faster progress and development. Effective data translates to better understanding of the problems at hand and how they can be addressed. The lack of data to indicate or solve a problem does not mean the problem doesn’t exist, only there’s nothing you can do about it. The extent to which data leads to faster problem solving seems only limited by the speed at which we can process the data, leading to articles like The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, but data. This resonates true across all industries, making data engineering one of the fastest growing job markets in America.

Given this context and the extremely high value of data, when Trump says he’s serious about reducing Covid-19 testing, it’s hard to actually believe him. And yet, he was serious and took action to reduce testing, all while effectively claiming no data, no problem. Continuing to double-down, now the White House is seizing control of Covid-19 data from the CDC.

When people or administrations in power make choices that seem to defy all logic, follow the money is usually a good place to start making sense of things. Trump seizing valuable Covid-19 data could be a corrupt power grab to extort money from Americans during this pandemic. With control of this data, the White House can tighten their own control on public information and line their pockets with revenue from so-called vaccines. Without access to the data ourselves, how can we question their findings? However, given that Trump himself has continued to take very anti-science positions and heavily downplays the value of data, I don’t think he’s planning some nefarious coup on the medical industry. It’s not that he lacks the capacity for something that evil; he’s proven time and time again that his greed outweighs any sense of morality. Instead, it seems that Trump genuinely believes hiding the data means the problem will just go away. Unfortunately for all of America, that’s not how any of this works.