In February 2017, an online database containing thousands of documents detailing animal welfare violations was removed from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s website, after being publicly available for decades. According to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, which maintained the database, the removal was prompted by privacy concerns. It has, however, been criticized by journalists and others. For example, a report in the National Geographic warned that, “[b]y hiding online records of welfare violations, [the department] robs journalists, investigators, and the public of timely information – and takes pressure of abusers.”
Update:
In December 2019, Congress enacted and President Trump signed the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act 2020, which directed USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to restore the database within 60 calendar days. In accordance with that direction, the database was re-published on the Service's website on February 18, 2020.