APIs being used for shady shit is nothing new. I have been calling out the bad seeds in the API realm since shortly after leaving Washington D.C. However, the brazenness and mainstreaming of this bad behavior using APIs leaves me questioning what it is I do for a living. So it is really interesting for me to think about how I used to work within the federal government advocating for APIs and hackathon, and why I am concerned, no angered that this administration is planning a hackathon to build an API for the IRS. What is fundamentally different with this agency, and what are the implications on me representing the wider API space?
What DOGE is doing is fundamentally opposite to what groups under the Biden and Obama administrations were working to do with APIs and hackathons. But it helps me write down my thoughts about what is different, continuing to do what I do-—thinking through the technology, business, and politics of APIs. So, what is different?
- Expertise - The current approach does not respect and value expertise—leaving out the domain experts.
- Extractive - This isn’t about providing access to the people, it is about providing access to those in power.
- Technology - This a pure technological approach without prioritizing what is actually essential for humans.
- Wasteful - The current work is throwing away what has already been done to make IRS more accessible.
- Power - This is about giving the rich and powerful more control over system they already don’t pay into.
- Privacy - The current administration does not respect the privacy of American citizens who pay taxes.
- Interoperability - They will be sharing information with law enforcement to go after black and brown people.
I could keep going. Same tool, completely different ideology. DOGE demonstrates why I began evangelizing for the politics of APIs back in 2013, because there are many dimensions that can turn a good API bad. Unlike AI which is easy for me to resist, APIs is my wheelhouse, and stepping away wouldn’t make sense. I’ve been here fighting for fifteen years, and I need to keep pushing back. Building on my previous positions, how can I justify my vision of APIs and provide a bar for evaluating efforts to understand what their motivations are.
- Transparency - Are all processes made transparent so the public can understand what is happening.
- Audibility - Can trusted external auditors come in and make sense of how things work and data is used.
- Simplicity - Are systems kept simple, avoiding complexity to obfuscate what is happening behind the scenes.
- Standardized - Is the approach utilizing industry standards keeping government reflecting a high bar.
- Privacy - The privacy of individuals who are paying taxes is respected and not violated in any way.
- Surveillance - Our tax data is not being used to surveil, deport, or powering policing of citizens in any way.
I am not against there being a modern API for the IRS, or a hackathon to build. I just want to make sure the API, hackathon, and all IRS work reflects what I’d consider to be my API Evangelist principles. I strongly believe all federal agencies should have a modern API. I also believe there should be regular hackathons to help get the public involved in how are government works. However, I cannot endorse APIs being used to give the rich and powerful even more control of the IRS, and unfettered access to the taxpayer data of everyone in this country. What is happening in the federal government reflects what has been slowly mainstreamed over the last fifteen years when it comes to doing business with APIs in the private sector.
