In fact, there’s no database at all. The data hub is designed to operate as a middleman, reaching out to seven different federal agencies to view information about those seeking coverage. Each of those agencies is responsible for maintaining and securing its own data — and many of them already make this kind of information available to a wide variety of online systems.

For instance, the HHS hub will be using data from the Internal Revenue Service to confirm the income information that applicants submit. That sounds risky: Your tax information will be available online, where skilled hackers could theoretically get access to it. But guess what? It already is. The IRS currently provides access to tax-return information over the Internet to nearly 300 federal and state agencies.

Likewise, the Department of Homeland Security will be verifying the citizenship status of Obamacare applicants in real time with an existing online system called SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements).